Pocketful of Miracles
by rukiahana
Summary: Based on the song by Frank Sinatra, this is a story of two college students coming from two different worlds. Somehow their paths collided and were forced to share it. The story of fate, love and learning to complement each other. AU IchiRuki. C14 updated
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: This is the edited version. Phew, deleted, edited and uploaded. Technology hates me. Anyway, googled up and I've schooled myself about Japanese suffixes and I feel so much more educated now. Thank you, Chaos :D I'm still not so sure about the usage of every term, but do holler if I make any mistake, aight:D_

_About the other Japanese Karate term, I'm not trying to appear smart by using them. Spazzes out. We generally and loosely apply the term in everyday karate class, regardless if you're in Japan or Timbuktu or wherever. Honestly, when reading a book/article, I don't think the writer is going to elaborate about the terms they use in the story. Goes something like this: "The guerilla lifted his AK-47 (AK-47 is a gun geniusly whipped up by the prodigal Russian scientist, Avtomat Klashnikov bla bla bla) and gunned down every single living soul in sight." _

_However, I contest guilty for not putting up a terminology. So here goes:_

_**Karateka – karate scholar**_

_**Shihan – master**_

_Now on with the story. :D Thank you for reading! And I do take forever to get my point across. _

XXXXX

"Class, we have a new karateka. In fact, he is a senpai and will be tutoring you together with Kuchiki san and Hitsugaya kun," the white-haired shihan announced as he clapped his hands together to calm the commotion down. Instantaneously, the 20 something crowd quieted and fell into synchronous lines.

Ukitake shihan gestured at somebody who stood at the corner of the dojo, and the orange-coloured hair guy jogged wordlessly towards the crowd. "This is Kurosaki Ichigo. Please give your best to help him out."

Ichigo nodded as he took a slight bow. His eyes scanned the faces of the curious middle-schoolers and finally his gaze settled on one of the senpais lining the front row. Petite, slender, with a determined gaze.

That was when those pair of violet eyes decided to leave the shihan's face and shifted onto his instead.

"Please don't hesitate to lend him your knowledge, Kuchiki san."

The raven-haired, violet-eyed lady nodded, her eyes still locked on the orange-haired stranger. "Yes, sir."

XXXXX

"This is your locker."

Ichigo lifted his eyes off the petite figure and turned to face the assigned locker. At least this one is near the water cooler.

"Here's the combination number," Rukia continued, handing him a Stick-It yellow memo with a series of number scribbled on it.

Ichigo took it swiftly, eyeing the code. He then lifted his gaze towards the small lady again, this time a half smirk playing at the corner of his lips. "So which grade are you in middle school?"

Rukia raised a perfectly-arched eyebrow, radiating the 'are-you-messing-with-me?' aura.

"It was just an innocent question," Ichigo continued, obviously defending his slip of tongue.

Rukia shrugged. She grabbed the lock and began working on the locker. After turning the combination, she proceeded with a slight bang on the metal, and the door gave way. "Obviously higher than the one you're in, Strawberry Head," she replied coolly before disappearing into the dojo.

XXXXX

Rukia dashed for the entrance. She was already late for her first day of campus life. Upon entering the main building, her eyes scanned the hallway, trying to get a hang of the buzz around her. The hall was packed with students with bookbags. Some were equally lost like her, some had the familiarity look painted on their faces. A wave of excitement washed over her.

She made a beeline for the notice board. She really needed to get acquainted with the university geographical setting fast. She didn't even know where her next class is located.

"Lady, I think you're stepping on my shoe."

Rukia withdrew a foot up, apologizing profusely. "Sorry, I wasn't looking." She raised her face to greet the victim of her unintended assault, only to end up with her mouth slightly ajar.

"You?" Funnily after only one karate do session, and they were already sharing a dictionary.

"What are you doing here?" Ichigo inquired, raising a questioning brow her way. He gave her a once-over, then chuckled. She looked even hotter without the bulky karate uniform, he concluded. Dark blue sweater with a pair of faded jeans. The girl could dress up in a battered rag and she would still look hot off the oven, he added to his thoughts.

"Oh, didn't I tell you? My Home Science class is here," she replied sarcastically, immediately regretting her earlier apology. She should have just stomped harder on those expensive-looking Nikes.

Ichigo laughed. "I didn't take you have a funny bone in your body, Kuchiki san," he replied, snickering. "You're a freshman too?"

Rukia gave him a dismissive glance and proceeded towards the notice board. The university map was taped neatly at the bottom corner. She quickly drew the direction towards her faculty and about to make an exit when a familiar orange head peeked over her shoulder.

"Tadao Ando House. I think you need to be at least a foot taller to be an architect, shorty," the spiky-haired guy commented. He flashed her a toothy grin. "That way you could at least reach the rooftop while designing it."

"Ha ha," Rukia replied dryly. She shut her notepad and turned to face the offender of her peace of mind. "Move it, Kurosaki. Your big butt's blocking my way."

"Oi, Ichigo!"

Ichigo raised his head. Two guys were waving at him from the end of the hallway. Ichigo raised a hand to wave back. He looked down to his side to continue his interrogation, only to find the spot empty. His eyes drifted to the main entrance, where her small frame was already making her way down the corner towards the architectural faculty.

He shrugged, and then smiled. Yeah, he's going to make sure to run into her again.

XXXXX

Rukia dropped on the bench tiredly. She removed the sneakers she was wearing and placed them into the locker. The week had been very demanding; it passed by in a blur. And it was already Thursday, back to the routine of teaching a group of middle schoolers karate do. She still had to pass up her preliminary sketch tomorrow. Her mind was whirling with things needed to be done by the end of the week.

Ichigo entered the changing room wordlessly. Lab was strenuous; he regretted being assigned to dissect the gastrointestinal tract in the first place. As if the foul smell of formalin-treated abdominal content wasn't enough, he had to strip every inch of sinful fat off the muscles and the organs. He was about to drop on the bench when he caught sight of the small body seated at the other end; her face buried between her knees. His eyes strayed for awhile at the sight of her bare shoulder under the tank top, and her toned arms but eventually his focus returned to the hunched girl.

"Hey."

Rukia's head snapped up automatically. She rubbed the sleepiness off her eyes.

"Great Kuchiki-san falling asleep at practice??"

Rukia bit back a growl that was forming. She really didn't feel like granting the satisfaction that Ichigo craved for. She stood up and silently shrugged her uniform on. Slinging her black belt on her shoulder, she closed her locker door with a bang.

XXXXX

"Rukia nee-chan! I can do the backflips already!"

Rukia beamed. She jogged lightly towards the boy who was happily backflipping on his palms. "Excellent, Morio! But be careful, okay?"

After patting the boy lightly on the head, she headed for the main dojo. She was in-charge of teaching the new pattern to the group of high-schoolers. She smiled, glad that most of them had already arrived.

"Rukia nee-chan! Shihan's calling for you!"

Rukia nodded her head lightly as she thanked her junior, Momo. Ukitake Shihan was standing at the corner of the dojo with a record book in hand. He was in deep discussion with the new senpai.

Gathering her energy, she made her way to the corner. The jackass in the form of orange-haired idiot suddenly looked up and their eyes met. He flashed a slight smile, which Rukia pointedly ignored. "Yes, shihan," she greeted.

"Rukia, do you have any idea why Shirou's absent today?"

Rukia frowned. "You mean, he didn't tell you about it?"

Ukitake Shihan wrinkled his forehead. "Is it September already?"

Rukia laughed. "Ano, Shihan. Not a wonder why Unohana San is always fed up with you when it comes to remembering anniversary."

Ukitake Shihan merely grinned. He tapped the end of his ballpoint pen on the record book. "Well, then. I guess it could work, the two of you."

Both Rukia and Ichigo raised an eyebrow at the aging Shihan.

Ukitake turned on his wheel and started walking to the center of the training hall. "I'm feeling robust today. Maybe we could start with free sparring," the elder man suggested. Without waiting for any confirmation, he started clapping his hands to gather his karatekas around. The obedient pupils fell into two parallel lines. Standing with their fists clenched at their sides, the youngsters bowed to their senpais.

"I have good news for everybody," he announced. "We're going to start today's lesson freestyle."

The hall echoed with sudden joyful yells and shots of laughter. The once neat and straight lines became crooked as the youngsters started to chat amiably with each other. Immediately the sparring was launched and Ichigo and Rukia were left as guardians.

The spar was executed with a time gap of 3 minutes for each spar. After the time limit was up, the line moved to swap partners. After about twenty minutes or so of free sparring…

"How come Rukia Nee-san and Ichigo Nii-sama are not sparring?"

Rukia froze from helping a girl correcting her stance. Ichigo raised his head from demonstrating a block.

"Yeah, Nee-san. It's been awhile since we saw you sparred," another girl butted in. Her motion was supported by the others who by then had already stopped their sparring session. "Please, Nee-san?"

"Uh," Rukia stuttered. She flashed an awkward smile. "Guys, I'm supposed to watch over your steps," she tried reasoning. She looked over at Ichigo for support.

"Aww, come on, Nee-san!"

"Yeah!"

"Ichigo Nii-sama, come on!"

Ukitake rubbed his chin, deep in thoughts. "Well, kids," he started. The crowd hushed down. "Take a break, everybody. Sit in a big circle. The kids are right, Kuchiki-san, Kurosaki-kun."

Ichigo and Rukia exchanged glances.

The kids cheered. They immediately formed a big circle on the tatami mat.

"Kuchiki-san is a very pretty lady," Ukitake started. A couple of catcalls can be heard from the boys section. Rukia merely blushed and smiled. "Let's say she was walking down a very dark alley alone. Suddenly, out of nowhere, an attacker came out of nowhere to assault her," he continued, raising his gaze to Ichigo. "Kurosaki-kun, give your best."

Ichigo grinned. So he was the lucky attacker. He and Rukia reluctantly took their place in the middle of the circle. "Let's see what you've got, pretty lady," he taunted softly.

Rukia rolled her eyes. "Yeah. Don't hold yourself back or anything," she retorted back lowly.

After taking a slight bow, both of them fell into ready stance. Ichigo took his role into action and started attacking first. He tried grabbing the small shoulders, when Rukia resisted by giving a front snap kick. Ichigo retaliated. He tried to maneuver her from behind. Grabbing her neck, he tried to lock her in his embrace. The smell of Rukia's shampoo intoxicated his senses. Ichigo tried to suppress a grin at the intentional close contact. However, he was knocked out of his reverie as Rukia nudged his abdomen harshly with her sharp elbow.

"What was that?" he hissed, rubbing the sore spot on his abdomen. He could hear the crowd cheered at their beloved Nee-san.

"Oh, that hurt?" she asked innocently. Then her eyes narrowed into slits. "Serves you right for headlocking me."

Ichigo flashed another grin despite the gnawing pain. Damn, the girl could nudge, alright. "Yeah, let's see you get locked in another position," he replied, his eyes twinkling with a subtle hint of annoyance.

He planned the subsequent attack in his mind. A kick at the back of her knee would make her fall on her back. He would pin her shoulder to the ground, and then… And then…

"You moron!" Rukia shoved his shoulders angrily as she tried to squirm her way under his grasp. Both of them rolled on the mat, this time, she was on top of him. Pulling her fist behind, she calculated whether to smack him right in the face or…

She was down again. She could feel his hot breath tickling her cheeks. "I think I'm alright with this position," Ichigo murmured, smirking.

Swallowing a groan, Rukia propped up a knee and smack it at the proposed target. Ichigo doubled over in pain while grabbing his abdomen again.

Breathing heavily, Rukia picked herself off the mat. She ran her fingers in her hair to entangle the mess. Some of the kids have left their place on the mat to surround her in a group hug. A couple of boys helped Ichigo to stand up.

Ichigo grinned. Dusting his gi, he walked purposefully towards the center of attention. Their eyes met. "That was a good fight," he said, offering a hand.

Wordlessly, they shook hands.

XXXXX


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: There is minimal amount of IchiRuki in this chap, but getting there soon. I promise. This one tells about Rukia's life. Expect OOC-ness. If you squint harder, you'll realize that I'm inspired by the JDrama Takuya Kimura's Engine. _

_Terminology:_

_A & S – Architectural & Structural Faculty_

_Itadakimasu – a phrase the Japanese recites before each meal to express thank for the food._

_Korokke – meat-and-potato meal_

_Miso – a type of soup _

_Mother-in-law apartment – a small part of a house which is usually located on the second floor, with separate staircase and entrance from the main house._

_Disclaimer: I do not play scrabble with the Bleach team._

_Now on with the story!_

_XXXXX_

She must be the smallest bartender he has even seen.

He hung back as he saw Mizuiro made his way to the bar. He would let Mizuiro do the order this time. He watched quietly as the lady gave a small smile to her customer, while her hands were expertly mixing drinks in a shaker.

The raven hair was up in a ponytail, with a few loose tendrils of framing her face. She was wearing a simple tank top with matching sequins lining the hem. The jeans hung low on her waist, accentuating her figures. She looked simple, yet there was something that screamed 'sexy' radiating from her.

"Fascinated much, Ichigo?"

Ichigo smirked. His eyes left the petite bartender and turned to face his friend. "Is she even legal to work here?"

Mizuiro laughed. "Don't tell me you don't think she's the sexiest little thing you've seen in awhile," he contested.

Shrugging lightly, Ichigo took a sip of the cold beer. "She's okay."

"Right," Mizuiro responded, smirking. "That's Rukia Kuchiki. The new freshie in A&S. Kinda a hot commodity around campus."

"So I've heard." His eyes lingered back to the petite girl. She was laughing at some jokes cracked by another girl. Her eyes crinkled and her left cheek showed a deep dimple. "But has a whack temper, if you ask me."

"And you would know this because?"

"She teaches karate at that new place I'm at."

"Sweet." Mizuiro was already grinning. "Maybe one of these days you could ask her to hang out or something."

Ichigo chuckled. He threw a peanut from the complimentary bowl at Mizuiro's face. "Which part of having a whack temper did you forget?"

"Dude. You're the charmer. The player of JNU. Girls don't work their temper with you," Mizuiro expressed his logics.

"Yeah? That midget over there just bashed my abdomen and bruised my kidney yesterday."

"She got you? Oh man! That's feisty! I love feisty women!"

Ichigo burst out laughing after containing his laughter for awhile. Mizuiro is so retarded sometimes. He averted his eyes from the grinning dork and gazed at the bar. She's feisty, alright. And that attitude. Man… She could do with smiling more.

When he thought about it, the girl is not really a Frankenstein in the making. She did smile to her customers. And she even freaking laughed with her juniors and friends. So why did he have the impression that the girl has a facial expression more frigid than the corpses he has lying in the Anatomy Lab?

_Probably because she's never smiled to you before, genius._

Yup. Although he honestly did not know why he gave a damn.

XXXXX

Passing by the community notice board, Rukia brought a printed sheet up and pinned it down primly at the available spot. She crossed her fingers, hoping no delinquent would be tempted to rip the notice and postponed her chance of splitting her rent.

On the metro ride to her brother's place at the suburbs, Rukia worked on her rebuttal speech against her brother's latest debate challenge: _Why do you have to waste money on rent when you can commute everyday? _

Rukia rolled her eyes. The image of her only sibling came into mind. She loves him dearly, really, but sometimes Bya-Nii just failed to see that she has outgrown the pigtails and crayons era and stepped into adulthood. Growing up, he had almost everything she needed catered by him. Being left orphaned at such a young age, the young successful property and investment counselor decided to up and left his life in order to take care of his younger sister. He became both her mom and her dad. He was the one who taught her the bunny-ear tricks of tying shoelaces. He was there cheering her on when she took off the training wheels from her first bike. He was also the one who took her photos while she descended down the stairs during her high school prom.

Really. Bya-Nii needed the holiday from taking care of her. She would give him back that much.

She remembered when she first told him about her new job as a bartender. The look on his face was priceless. She swore if somebody ran a blade on his usually clean-shaven face, no drip of blood would be shed at that moment. It was like the time froze. Hell, even the birds stopped chirping and the wind stopped singing. She almost regretted her decision of indulging him with the news.

"_Is it a strip club?" he asked tersely. His face was blank. Obviously not a good sign._

"_Hell no!" came Rukia's equally abrupt reply._

_Byakuya's eyes was blazing at the profanity coming from his usually gentle sister._

_Rukia cringed. "Sorry, Onii-chan. You went ahead and pop such bizarre question, even the Pope himself is bound to curse," she mumbled back. She kept on folding and unfolding her hands, which were placed on her lap. I should have just left a note or something…_

"_How about the pay?" came the expected question from the former financial counselor. _

"_Enough."_

"_Do you need help paying the rent?"_

_Rukia lifted her head. She was frowning. "The whole reason for me getting the job is to pay the rent. And put food on the table."_

"_We had a deal. You stay in school and I pay for everything," Byakuya relayed. _

"_Bya Nii, maybe it's time I start keeping the ends for me."_

Byakuya was not thrilled. He kept on popping into her room while she was packing, trying to attack her guilty conscience.

"_Then who's going to do the laundry for the kids?"_

"_I'll come every weekend."_

"_You're really going to spend your Sundays folding kids' underwear?"_

"_Hmm."_

"_How about arts classes?"_

"_Hanataro-sensei said that's taken care of."_

"_Who's going to do the groceries?"_

"_Suri-san's going to take a detour to the minimarket before coming in every morning. Which reminds me, you should really increase her pay, brother."_

_Silence ensued._

_Rukia smiled as she stuffed a photo frame into one of the last few boxes. "Look, Bya-Nii. You even got an extra space when I leave this room. Maybe Aya and Ririn can move in up here. The girls could use the extra space since it's their final year in high school."_

_No replies. _

"_I'll visit every week. I promise."_

"_Good. I'd like to see your seat at the dinner table occupied at least once a week."_

_She froze after hearing the words coming from her brother. Her devoid-of-emotion, astute brother. She turned on her heels, to see her brother's face decorated with a small smile. _

"Itadakimasu!"

Unclasping her hands, Rukia reached for the chopsticks laid across on the bowl. She inhaled the aroma of sesame chicken, korokke, miso, deep-fried prawn and various appetizers and desserts. The food is among those that she missed since she left the orphanage last summer. Suri-san always whipped up the best meal for them. She's careful about the calorie intake stuff, and the meal is always on the healthy side, with lots of vegetable and without excessive oil, but nevertheless her food is always so scrumptious that there was barely leftover in the fridge.

"Rukia-nee, can you pass the black sauce to me, please," inquired the small boy next to her.

She snapped out of her reverie and held a bowl filled with black sauce in midair. "What's the magic word, Jun?" she taunted, grinning devilishly at the boy.

Jun sighed. And some of the kids witnessing the exchange also chuckled. "I already said please," he whined. He stared intently at the bowl, hoping for the black sauce to voluntarily drip into his miso.

"Nope. The other magic word."

"Jun-chan can't act so macho now. You know it's Rukia-nee's rule for you," the slightly older Ryou chimed in. He patted the small boy's head, trying to get a reaction out of it.

Jun sighed. Again. For a 5-year-old kid, he sure sighs a lot.

"What did I tell you about sighing?" Rukia chastised again. She put on her best matured look.

"Maybe he has lots of unnecessary air in his lungs, Rukia-nee," Miyu, an 8-year-old girl suggested. "We learned that we need to breathe air to live in class today. Maybe he got in too much."

The comment called for a round of laughter by the elderly. Byakuya even managed to choke on his tempura.

Jun wrinkled his forehead at being the subject of mockery. Maybe he doesn't need black sauce in his miso so much.

"Say it, Jun-chan," 17-year-old Aya insisted. She smiled encouragingly at the junior.

"Alright," Jun relented. "My pretty Rukia-nee, who I love so much, can you please pass me the black sauce?" he recited in a bored tone. A short while later he felt a pair of warm lips pressed on his cheeks. Jun blushed.

First-year high school student, Takumi, snickered. "You're vain, Rukia-nee." Rukia beamed.

"Eww, Rukia-nee! You gave him cooties!" 6-year-old Haruto cried.

"Why? Do you want one too?" Rukia threatened, grinning at the kid from across the table.

"Girls sucks. They give cooties," chanted Haruto.

"When you're slightly older Haruto-chan, you can't get enough of girls' cooties," Ririn teased, as she helped the younger boy with his dessert.

Rukia smiled as Haruto wrinkled his nose at the thought. So, the long dinner table is fully occupied again. She stole a look at her brother, who was seated at the other end of the table. Bya-nii seemed composed as ever. He could even manage to look unruffled while having dinner with a bunch of orphaned kids. Sometimes he would crack a smile if one of the kids said something funny, which was almost all the time.

She looked around the long table. A smile played at the corner of her lips. She missed home. She missed being here every single day of her life.

XXXXX

"How are classes?"

"They are good," Rukia replied. She handed the brewing cup of tea to her brother before sitting herself next to him on the swing.

"You got enough money for tuition?" he inquired again.

She nodded, sipping her own tea. The less her brother knows about her financial status, the better. "How are the kids coping?"

"They miss their Rukia-nee."

"I miss them too." She enjoyed teasing Jun for his serious demeanor. Her secret mission was trying to make the child to loosen up more. Of course, there were endless gossips with the teenage girls Aya and Ririn. Some recipe swaps with Suri-san.

She couldn't imagine how bored her life would be if her brother didn't take the drastic action of changing their family home into an orphanage 5 years ago.

"How are you getting back to Tokyo so late at night?"

Grinning, she rolled her eyes at her brother. "The same way I came, brother."

"Hmm."

Suddenly they were both interrupted by a beeping sound coming from Rukia's mobile. A new text message.

_Hello. I got ur no fr d community board. M interested in ur mother-in-law apartment. Can we meet up at the 4th café to discuss abt d rent? Thanks._

Rukia grinned. At least she knew God was answering her prayer.


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: Thank you guys for reading and reviewing! The reviews have made me grin like a dork for the whole day. This one has a lot of IchiRuki in it, tho not in the way you imagine it would be grins. _

_**Animelover 150**: thanks for reading. Your wish is my command ;)_

_**Multiple Cyrosis**: hey, I couldn't get angry with people who read my story! You have to make me super pissed off for me to be mad at you, which is not gonna happen soon, I promise :D Thanks for the review, yeah, everybody's pretty much OOC in my story. Hope this one lives up to your expectation _

_**Andrag**: Dun dun dunnn. Your question will be answered soon ;)_

_**White scribe**: updated! _

_Terminology:_

_**Meth lab**: a street term for the place which processes methamphetamine, a type of recreational drug._

_**Blackie**: a street term for meth pills._

_**Meth-head**: a street term for err, meth heads. Hahhaha. Or meth junkie. Your pick._

_Now, on to disclaimer: I am still not playing Scrabbles with the Bleach character. All rights belong to Kubo Tite. There are mentions of drugs, but please, stay away from drugs. They do funny stuff to your body. This is a message from the Association of Dorks Anonymous. _

_XXXXX_

"Oww!"

"Damn!"

"Watch where you're going, strawberry!"

Ichigo's head snapped up while his hand was still unconsciously rubbing his shin. Upon seeing the all-too-familiar face, he could feel a smirk emanating from his lips. But then the girl's words hit him. _Strawberry?_ "What did you call me?"

"Not only are you a blind, you're also a deaf? How come you're not in the disabled group already?" retorted the petite girl, down on all four collecting her scattered books. She puffed, and the hot air lifted the rouge strand of raven hair covering her forehead.

Wrinkling his forehead, Ichigo tried to grasp the reality of the situation. Is that midget making fun of him? _Damn, I'm slow today._ "Guess again. I've got the identification booklet. You wanna see?" he replied sarcastically.

Rukia installed a high-pitched, school-girl voice, complete with a fake grin. "Oh, really? Wow! Do you like, get a discount on public transports?" Lifting herself off the pavement, she dropped her voice to a monotone. "Buzz off, Kurosaki."

"Yeah. Like I was the one who walked like I own the freaking hallway," Ichigo retorted back. He was already back on his feet, towering the girl a good foot over. _Damn, her hair smells nice…_

"At least I'm not a fat ass who bumps into every body in their way!"

"You scrawny little…little…!"

Rukia jutted out her chin. "Hit me with your best shot."

Closing his eyes, Ichigo refrained himself from pulling hair off his scalp. This girl was already rivaling _'passing psychology'_ on his impossible mission list. "I don't hit scrawny little girls."

Rukia narrowed her eyes. "Disappear."

"Why should I? My class is that way!"

"And mine is that way too!"

"Who died and left you the university wing?!"

"Probably somebody who got a freaking cardiac arrest after seeing your hair!"

XXXXX

"That's your friend."

"And that's _your_ friend."

Izuru chuckled. He grabbed Nanao by the wrist and led her to the center of commotion. "Let's do something before they open a wrestling ring right in the middle of the hallway."

XXXXX

"You guys are a bunch of juveniles," the blond guy eloquently intercepted.

Both heads, black and orange, turned.

"People are staring, Rukia," Nanao whispered. She grabbed Rukia's hand and felt the girl's fingernails digging into her palm. She winced. Better having Rukia's hand in hers than around Ichigo's neck.

"Not my fault that carrot-top was still stuck in elementary school," Rukia defended herself.

Izuru laughed. He slung an arm around Ichigo's shoulder. "Who? This kid? Nah, you got him on a lucky day. Usually he's much worse than a preschool kid."

Ichigo groaned.

Finally a small smile crept on Rukia's face.

"Kira Izuru," he introduced himself after seeing the small girl easing up.

"I know. Nanao told me about you." The speckie girl blushed, and pinched her petite friend on the waist.

"And Ichigo about you," Izuru responded, grinning. As expected, Rukia frowned.

"I did not!" Ichigo bellowed.

"Whatever, you moron," Rukia replied, rolling her eyes. "Sorry to meet you under this circumstance. Your idiot friend seems to bring out the best in me." One look at her watch, and she cursed. "Later, Nao. I gotta dash," she rushed. She gave a quick grin to Izuru. "Nice meeting you." And off she sped down the hallway.

XXXXX

"She's hot."

Ichigo grunted. He worked harder on pulling the thoracic wall apart. Finally, the ribs gave way and exposed a pair of blackened lungs to the medical students. They grimaced. "Correction. She's hot-tempered."

Izuru laughed. He wrinkled his nose at the foul smell suddenly dispersing in the room. He bit back a gag. "Yeah. Tho she did mention you were the whole motivation that brought out the best in her."

Chuckling, Ichigo grabbed a pair of pliers from the kidney dish. "And you're motivating me to stuff this into your big mouth," he threatened, pointing the pliers to his friend.

"On what occasion are we stuffing Kira's mouth with that thing?" Mizuiro inquired, appearing into the Anatomy lab. He placed his bookbag on the nearby gurney.

"Oh. We haven't sterilized that gurney yet. They just took off that old man like half an hour ago," Izuru pointed out. Both he and Ichigo started laughing when Mizuiro was scrambling to get down from the gurney.

"Yuck! Put a damn note or something," the shorter guy muttered. He was putting his jeans straight into the hamper the moment he gets home.

"How come you're here? Did you get lost from the Accounts faculty or something?" Izuru inquired.

"I have a message to deliver," Mizuiro replied. He tiptoed to catch a glimpse of the body both medical students were working on. Damn. Such haters. They were getting all the action. "What are you guys doing? Are you cupping a feel from a female corpse?"

"No. We're stealing somebody's lungs for dinner. Wanna see?" Izuru moved away to entertain Mizuiro's thoughts. Upon seeing the opened thorax, the poor guy gagged and dashed a few feet away.

"You guys are sick," he muttered incoherently, gasping for clean air.

"Leave the kid alone, Kira," Ichigo said, smirking at the other friend. "What's up, Mizuiro?"

"Right. About that. I'm the bearer of not-so-good news."

Ichigo groaned. "When?"

"Two days. Tops. Then you're as good as gone."

"Shit," the orange-haired guy muttered under his breath. Suddenly he remembered the life-altering appointment he had. Double shit. Damn, he needs a secretary. "Oi, Kira. What time is it?"

Kira squinted at his digital watch, hanging from a nail on the wall. "2 past 4. What's up?"

Peeling off his surgical glove, he dashed for the exit door. "Wrap up for me, will ya? I'm off," he called over his shoulder. Throwing the lab gown and apron into the hamper, Ichigo prayed that he won't be too late. Or he should be adjusting to sleeping on the streets real soon.

XXXXX

Rukia sighed. She stole a look at her wristwatch. 10 after four. _Am I being ditched or something?_

4th café was bustling with energy. The quaint little café is located at the periphery of Student Welfare Department, and well-liked by those who craved for home-ground coffee and peace. Coincidentally, it was her favorite café, so when her new future tenant wanted to meet up here, she was almost positive it was going to be a wonderful beginning.

But the thoughts were so 10 minutes ago.

She didn't know how to respond to tardiness. Growing up with Bya-nii, she had learnt the art of appreciating time. She tried to make it a point that she's always on time whenever her presence is required. She hates to keep people waiting for her, and obviously she hates doing the same for others.

Finishing off the remaining of her latte, she took out her mobile and flipped it open. She grabbed her backpack and ready to leave, all the while typing out a text message on her phone.

"_I'm sorry but I waitd 10mins n u weren't there…_

"Ouch!"

Rukia groaned. "What are the odds of you trying to mutilate me more than once a day?"

Ichigo rubbed his chest where Rukia's heavy bookbag had hit him. "Dude. What's there in that bag? That hurt."

"Concrete rubbles," Rukia replied sarcastically. "It's especially to use against jerks who try to disfigure me on a constant basis." She gave a last glare before sidestepping towards the entrance. "Bye, loser."

Ichigo frowned. One of these days he might be tempted to call her names his mother told him not to use on girls. How was he the loser when she walked like her eyes were in her kneecaps instead of her head?

Pushing the thoughts about dismembering a certain petite raven-haired girl to the back of his mind, Ichigo pulled out his mobile. The café was in full swing, but he couldn't detect a single person wearing a purple sweater in sight. He scrolled down the inbox and hit the green button when he found the number he was looking for.

A distant away, at the main entrance, another mobile rang off. Ichigo raised his head instinctively. _Come to think of it, wasn't she wearing purple just now? Oh shit…_ And as if on cue, the line was picked up.

"Hello?" came the familiar feminine voice.

"Uh…"

"You??"

XXXXX

"Are you ruining my life on purpose?"

"What??"

Rukia almost pouted. "I already took off the flyer cuz I really thought I've gotten a potential tenant," she said softly. "You, damn you! I really need that money, you asshole!" A few heads from nearby booths turned their way. Rukia blushed slightly, calming herself down.

"Hey, I'm not exactly that psyched at the thought of sharing an apartment with you! I for one, don't have a deathwish!" Ichigo retorted back.

Rukia inhaled deeply.

"Next time, put your name down or something. I'm not retarded enough to apply if I'd known it's your house in the first place."

She raised an eyebrow. "And risk crazy stalkers hunting down my ass? As if you're not mad enough already…"

"Even crazy people are not crazy enough to go and stalk you. Don't pride yourself too much."

"You…" She realized she has run out of energy to retort. Being with this orange-top is slowly draining the life out of her. Instead, she stared at his hand across the table. He was drumming the tabletop softly with his fingers.

"Look, I didn't mean to ruin your life. How the hell was I supposed to know it was your flyer?" Ichigo started reasonably. "I've seen the mother-in-law apartment, and I like what I saw. Can we just start over cuz I really need a place, like, fast."

Silence.

To make his point, Ichigo switched off his iPod. He was on negotiating term now. "Look, you need the money too, right?"

"Yeah…"

Ichigo refrained from smirking. _A respond. Good enough._ "Plus, it's not like we're gonna be in each other's way since we have separate entrance and everything."

"Right."

"So can we just strike up a deal here and I'll sign whatever contracts you have in mind."

Rukia frowned. _Contracts? Does he think he's purchasing a Shangri-La or something?_ "There must be something wrong with you that your last landlord is kicking you out," Rukia acknowledged logically. "Are you a criminal? Are you turning my apartment into a meth lab?"

Ichigo rolled his eyes. This girl has one hell of an imagination. "Oh, did I leave a blackie stuck on my forehead again?" he replied sardonically. "You've got to be kidding me."

"You seem to know a lot about drugs."

"Hello yourself, miss all-too-familiar-with-meth-lab."

"What? Don't you watch CSI??" Rukia defended herself.

"Right," Ichigo replied curtly. He sighed. "I'm not a meth-head or any junkie for that matter, nor I a serial killer. I have a clean public record, never been arrested, has been a model citizen and I volunteer from time to time. Need I type you a resume?"

Silence. Although Rukia felt tempted to reach across the table to smack the carrot-top for mocking her. She needs the money, dammit. _Oh yeah, what was it about the contract?_ _That stupid boy is a genius, indeed._ "I'll draw up a contract. When do you need to move in?" she replied after a moment of deliberating.

Ichigo resisted the urge to pump his fist into the air. _Yes!_ Instead, he opted to scratch the back of his head. "Uh, like, soon?"

Rukia rolled her eyes. "Like, how soon?" she mocked.

"Tomorrow."

"Crap."

XXXXX


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N: Another update. Weekend has done me good. :D Thank you again for the wonderful reviews, you guys are such sweethearts. This one is for you guys. Hope everybody likes ;)_

_Terminology:_

_Scoliosis – deformation of vertebral column (English: backbone)_

_Disclaimer: Still not playing scrabble._

"Dammit, Kuchiki. Why don't you just write a book?" Ichigo asked sarcastically, shaking his head at the long list of so called pre-lease agreement. It would take him at least a month to finish going over them.

Rukia crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Don't tempt me. Just be grateful I didn't step over 40."

"Yeah. How thankful I am. I feel like lighting a candle in the church just for you," Ichigo retorted. He turned his attention to the ridiculous document. "_No loud music at night and early morning. No loud sound, of all sorts, applicable at all times_." He wrinkled his forehead. "What's so much different about loud _music_ and _sound_ that you have to put them in separate entity, pray tell?"

Rukia rolled her eyes. "Loud music is those rock bands that guys your type usually listen to. Loud sound refers to any type of audible sounds, be it coming from you, or your furniture, or your screaming girlfriend. Got it?"

"Why don't you just spell it out clearly? It's called loud SEX. Geez. What juvenile." His eyes ran to the bottom of the page. "_Violation of privacy is strictly prohibited. The connecting door is severely off-limits._ What connecting door?"

Rukia sighed. She motioned lazily to the apartment, as if the connecting door, which was located inside, could be seen from where they were standing in the lawn.

"I'm sorry for not being a mutant. I don't have x-ray visions."

"It's that door inside your apartment, next to the toilet, which leads down a staircase directly into my apartment," she explained.

Ichigo frowned. "Meaning to say, you got one of those things yourself too?"

"Duh. That's basically how connecting doors work, genius."

Raising an eyebrow, he purposely struck a finger at the paper. "Then I want my part of security arrangement on the agreement too," he demanded.

"What are you talking about, loser?"

"If you're putting the connecting door as off-limits on my side, then I should state it be the same on your side too. I don't want you creeping up the stairs to peek at me while I'm sleeping or showering!"

"First of all, I'd rather be caught dead than peeking at you! Second of all, since when does this agreement take two sides?!" Rukia yelled, blushing furiously.

"Are you sure? Last time a girl peeked at me in prep school, I lost my boxers. Those were silk, and they were kinda expensive, you know."

Rukia stopped herself from pulling hair off her scalp. It's only 10 am and she was already wishing that the day would end soon. "Are you mentally-challenged?? Rest assured, your boxers are safe with you, stupid. What kind of a gay wears silk boxers anyway??"

"Heyyy, what's this about calling me stupid? I demand to be treated with equal respect!"

"The day I'm treating you with even a little amount of dignity is the day you graduate from kindergarten."

Ichigo shook his head. "You're impossible, woman."

"Whatever. I'm off." Rukia turned on her heels and began walking to her front door.

"Wait!"

"What?"

"Who's going to help me carry all this stuff up?"

Rukia arched an eyebrow. "Certainly not me."

"Come on! I'd have scoliosis by the last box. Can't you pretend to be that friendly neighbor for awhile?"

Rukia ran her eyes across the lawn. Almost ten boxes of various sizes were trampling her perfectly manicured carpet grass. A lone tall bedside lamp stood by the staircase. A complete ensemble of human skeleton hung next to it. Some rolled-up posters. A CD rack. A TV. A hi-fi set. "You got so much stuff for a guy. Where did you get most of these junks?"

"I don't know, Rukia. One day I farted, and all of them came crashing down from the sky."

"I refuse to climb that stairs with all these heavy boxes."

Ichigo exhaled noisily. "Fine. You just have to hand me the boxes at the landing. Alright?"

"Why do you have a freaking bedside lamp for? Isn't it a little sissy-ish?" Rukia inquired, running a finger along the lamp dome. And cringed when her finger was coated with dust.

"Sissy-ish," Ichigo scorned under his breath. "My sisters gave it to me." He lifted a box marked 'text books' and struggled to keep his balance. Damn his dad for sparing him with medical books enough to supply the whole JNU's medical faculty. He looked over his shoulder at Rukia who was obsessing over his skeleton. "Hey. Mind if we start getting my stuff up sometime this year?"

Rolling her eyes, Rukia pulled up the sleeves of her sweatshirt. "Hold your horses, dude."

XXXXX

Rukia balled her fist and resisted the urge to pounce a certain lanky orange-top living upstairs. She watched as the murky water dripped mercilessly onto her bedlinen, which was hung neatly along the laundry line.

"Kurosaki!"

"What?" Ichigo peered down from his balcony. His orange head was a mess. "Do you have breakfast for me?" he asked cheekily.

"Breakfast my ass!" Rukia shouted. _Does that asshole think I'm running a lodging or something?_ She pointed angrily at her drenched laundry. "You let your laundry water drip down! Again!"

"What do you want me to do about it, Kuchiki? Not like I can fight gravity," he called down. "Come on, it's just water mixed with Tide. Nothing to fuss about."

"Nothing to fuss about?? God knows what died in that laundry pail of yours!"

"Hey!"

"Don't hey me!! Don't you know how to wring them dry??"

Ichigo rolled his eyes. For somebody so small, she had a voice audible to the whole 5-km radius. "Excuse me for have never worked in a laundry shop before," he replied dryly.

"Wring them dry before I throw them into the drain," she threatened before stepping back into the house.

Rukia plopped herself down onto the couch, sighing heavily. It's been roughly one month since that boy moved in and so far they've been managing well to keep out of each other's lives. Well, except for that time when he came down with food poisoning in campus.

"_Student Rukia Kuchiki, you are requested to be present at the campus sickbay now. I repeat…"_

_Rukia's step died in her track. Nanao and Matsumoto followed suit. "Was that my name?" she inquired, almost to herself._

"_Well, if there's another Kuchiki Rukia in campus, which I highly doubt to be, that was certainly referring to you," Matsumoto concluded._

_Rukia gulped. Being summoned to the sickbay only means very few things. Usually people are not summoned to the sickbay, they either voluntarily pay a visit due to health reasons or being sent involuntarily when the health reasons get out of control. When she woke up that morning, she was feeling dandy as usual, minus the fact that she was being pulled out of bed by the speaker cranking Metallica from the second floor. Other than that, she was peachy._

_To be called to the sickbay only means two things; either you're a health personnel involved with volunteering around clinic, or you're being summoned to collect your lab test result. Underlined for pregnancy test._

_And she was certainly not known around campus for being a medical personnel. This only left to one conclusion for the rest of the JNU population to speculate: is that petite bartender getting some action, and therefore paying for it?_

_Shit. _

_Matsumoto was grinning some hardcore cheese on her. "When did **that** happen?" she asked, poking Rukia's ribs in the process._

"_**That,** has never happened," Rukia answered cattily, all the while trying to dodge the amused looks people have been throwing her way. _

"_What has never happened?" Nanao inquired, obviously oblivious to what 'that' meant. _

_Matsumoto laughed, her ample bosom, which was the source of attraction to both males and females alike, shook lightly. She patted her innocent friend on the shoulder. "Trust me, Nanao. You'd feel better if you don't find outt."_

_Nanao looked puzzled. She clutched her books a little tighter to her chest. "So, are you going, Rukia?"_

"_Do I look crazy to you??" Rukia muttered. "There's no way they were calling my name to the sickbay. Maybe they got it mixed up with another girl."_

"_Righhhht."_

"_Maybe they were just calling you in to help them with flyers. You are always very talented with designing them," Nanao reasoned. _

_Nanao's explanation had somehow calmed Rukia down a hell lot. She was at the merge of spazzing out. She let out a small cough, trying to get rid of the stammer in her voice. "Right."_

_After much debating with the girls, she finally made her way to the eastern part of the university, feeling a little bit stupid herself. She for one, knew she was nowhere near doing 'that', at least that she was aware of. She didn't even dare sleeping naked on her own, how could 'that' come into the picture? She shuddered. Whatever's shattering her reputation in the clinic should be good._

_So when she was told a Kurosaki Ichigo in Bay 2 was calling for her, she was puzzled. What was that idiot doing calling her on the PA system to the freaking sickbay?? A series of innovative profanities was forming in her head. She pulled the curtain open and was ready with a verbal assault when a sickly white face greeted her. All words fled her mouth._

"_Hey," Ichigo croaked hoarsely. His lips were deathly pale. Or so she thought._

_Rukia clamped her mouth shut. She stepped in, peering curiously at the orange-top. "Are you dying?" she asked, words came out in a sudden rush._

_Ichigo managed a chuckle. "I hope not. Damn. I paid a fortune for that apartment. At least I'm gonna make this month's rent worth. It's barely been a week."_

_Rukia raised an eyebrow. For somebody who resembled closely to dying, he sure was eloquent. "Then, what's wrong with you?"_

"_Nurse said it's food poisoning. Got a sick leave and was requested to go home," he explained slowly, although it seemed he was struggling a bit for words._

_Rukia smirked. "Lucky ass. Don't let me stop you or anything," she joked._

"_Right, about that." The guy suddenly turned all shy. His pale-stricken face changed into a light pink. "I forgot my keys," he spoke shyly._

_Rukia couldn't believe her ears. "How on earth did you forget your keys?"_

"_I slipped them into Mizuiro's bag when rushing to the toilet just now and that stupid idiot just left."_

"_How was he the stupid idiot when you could have slipped that key into your own bag??" Rukia argued._

"_Excuse me that grabbing my bag wasn't the first thing that comes to mind when my rectum was almost exploding," Ichigo retorted. "Plus you got the spare key, right?"_

"_Yeah, which happens to lie in my closet AT HOME," Rukia replied. "I'm not about to give you my key for you to go ransack my place. No way." She crossed her arms in front of her chest, emphasizing her point._

"_Rukia!" he whined. "I'm dying here. I need to go to the toilet every twenty minutes!"_

"_Then you wouldn't even make it down the bus stop."_

"_Please restore my faith in humanity and bring a sick child home," Ichigo begged. _

"_But you wouldn't last twenty minutes without the potty! I refuse to be around when you stain your pants!"_

"_Gosh, Rukia. Why don't you alert the whole Japan?" Ichigo muttered under his breath. His shade then was the abnormal hue of scarlet. _

In the end, virtue won over pride. Guilt prevailed ignorance. With the man's arm slung around her shoulders, the two were a sight as they left the university's compound together. She even burned extra yen for the cab ride home. After a dozen more trips to the toilet and a bowl of homemade chicken soup and porridge later, some natural color returned to Ichigo's cheeks, much to Rukia's relief.

Nursing the boy had been pure torture.

Now as she watched the water dripped onto her bedlinen still, she wondered if she should have just left him alone to die of severe dehydration.

XXXXX


	5. Chapter 5

_A/N: As I was doing beta on this, I realized I've been obsessed with the word dictionary as it has been used multiple times in this chapter. I'm experimenting with a new mood around the couple, and I don't know how you guys are going to respond to it. Let me know if you want to kill me, ok? _

_Disclaimer: Kubo Tite and all his awesome-ness owns Bleach._

_Now, on to the story!_

_XXXXX_

"_The social service people came around and I overheard that they are limiting Byakuya-sama to only ten kids under the roof."_

Rukia bit on her nails. Some habits die hard. Especially one which is nasty, unhygienic but surprisingly comforting. Ten kids under one roof. Where else can Bya-nii push another one to? Knowing Bya-nii, he wouldn't have the heart to give up any one of them; he loves all of the kids like his own (although it seems ironic since he doesn't have one). Plus, she would _die_ before she parted with any of her adopted siblings. They are family. Blood or non-blood related.

A thought had crossed her mind since that phone call from Suri-san. It was just a thought, still under proposal level. May not be the brainstorm of the century, but at least it could withdraw one less headache from Bya-nii. Even though she was almost positive he was going to turn down the idea once voiced out, it couldn't hurt to try.

She spent 5 years of her teenage life babysitting, what a few more years going to hurt? She knew she was good with children; most of the kids had been under her care since the tender age of 6 months. She knew every habit, every idiosyncrasies, every scar.

Come to think about it, she could never choose any one from them. She adored all the midgets dearly. Picking out one kid is proven to be a very tedious decision to make.

Of course, there was always the classes and bartending issue. So none below 15. Which left her with 3 high school candidates.

Takumi. She adored the kid. But living with a high school boy barely hitting puberty could be a source of awkward embarrassing moment. She remembered that time when she found a hentai manga under the boy's bed while cleaning his room. She had blushed like a schoolgirl (she had officially left high school a week before the time of occurrence, so no prude remarks allowed). Thinking back, she rolled her eyes at her own dorkiness.

At the prospect of living with Takumi, the questions about finding random porn mags and discarded condoms came into mind. Rukia shuddered.

Sweet Aya came to live under the Kuchiki household almost close to 5 years ago. Both she and Haruto were orphaned after their parents were killed in a plane crash. Aya was one of the most hardworking, mild-demeanor and charming girls she had ever known and Rukia was sure she wouldn't have troubles such as running to the principal's office or beating down rouge high school boys with this girl.

But if she were to take Aya in, what would happen to Haruto? Both siblings are very close, and she didn't have the heart to place a gap between them. So Aya was pretty much out too.

Then her thoughts drifted to Ririn. _Cold Jasmine_. But the child is the farthest thing from being cold. She warmed up to everybody pretty much easily. Ririn grew up to be a very independent young lady; job hunting at the age of 15 and by 17, she had a steady part-time job at the local café. Rukia was sure she would be having a hard time fighting off testosterone-overloaded teenage boys off the pretty girl. It didn't help that she could be an impish flirt too. But that is the chance Rukia had to take.

Suddenly, the loud blaring of System of A Down disrupted Rukia's train of thoughts. This morning itself the carrot-top has violated almost a dozen rules in the pre-lease agreement. Like she would have the energy to tell him off. Why did she bother writing the rules down in the first place was beyond her. The guy defines _'impossible'_. She was sure that stupid face can be found under that very word in some dictionary somewhere.

Picking herself off the couch, she made her way to the sliding door. Staying indoor listening to the screeching sound was turning depressing fast. Maybe she could run. Yup. Been ages since she ran. Feeling proud for having an agenda to ditch the couch, she made a dash for her trainers.

Once outside, Rukia inhaled the morning crisp air deeply. Jasmine and peony scent filled the air. She was lucky to be neighbors with Unohana-san. Such a dear woman with a beautiful garden. And as if on cue, the older woman appeared from behind a rose bush and waved at her.

"Ohaiyo, Kuchiki san," the woman greeted her. Her beautiful braided hair dangled from her left shoulder. "Been awhile since I saw you outside."

Rukia grinned. She neared the white picket fences separating their properties. "Ohaiyo Unohana san. Ah yes, been kinda busy with classes. How are you doing? The flowers smell lovely."

"I'm doing well, child. Yes, the peonies are especially blooming right now. Such a pity to see them go next month. They make a great remedy too," Unohana said wistfully. "Have you been eating? You look exceptionally thin these days."

"I've been eating well, don't worry! Maybe the extra workload is tiring me out, that's all."

Creases of worry lined Unohana's forehead. "Maybe I should broil some herbal tonics for you, ne?"

"Gosh, don't trouble yourself. Plus, those tonics are always so bitter," Rukia pouted.

Unohana laughed. "Child, bitter medicine makes the best remedy," she said gently, reaching over to pat the girl's shoulder. "Oh yes, who is that guy living on the second floor? He seems like a nice guy. Is he your suitor?"

"My what? No, most certainly not!" Rukia replied, the heat creeping on her cheeks. _My suitor? I'd rather choke on pretzels! _

Unohana smiled, amused at Rukia's reaction. "Why not? He's good-looking, and has fine manners too," she prodded further.

Rukia wrinkled her forehead. "Fine manners? For sure you've got him mistaken for another person," she reasoned. That boy and fine manners so do not belong in one sentence.

"Ah.. But I've got him right for being good looking?" Unohana asked again innocently.

Another heatwave flushed over her. "Erm, no," she replied, almost to herself. _Good-looking? Pukes._

"So does he have a name? I need to thank him properly for helping me with my groceries yesterday. Maybe both of you can come over for dinner later?"

Rukia blinked in surprise.

"Honey, have you seen my socks?!"

An evil grin slowly spread on her face. _So much for the nice-guy image._ She wondered how the girlfriend looks like tho.

"There you are. I've been searching for you. Have you seen my socks, Rukia?"

Rukia turned around at the voice coming from the balcony. The smirk was wiped off by a frown.

"I've gotta run to the shop in a couple minutes. Anything you want me to pick up for you, baby?" Ichigo called, looking directly at her while flashing a slow grin.

Rukia looked up at him strangely. She looked over her shoulders for anybody else standing nearby. No other human soul except for Unohana-san over the fence. _Did that moron just call me baby??_

"Hello, space cadet Rukia? Are you ill?" Ichigo called again, peering curiously at her. Suddenly his eyes caught sight of the woman standing at the other side of the fan. He waved and smiled. "Hello there."

Unohana smiled. So that was the young man who helped her yesterday. "Good morning. How are you doing?"

"Oh, I'm doing fine. How about you?" Ichigo replied, scratching the back of his head. He grinned shyly, pretending to be embarrassed to be caught in an affectionate moment with his girlfriend.

Rukia rolled her eyes. _What the hell is he pulling now?_ She mentally reminded herself to burn his motorbike when Unohana-san is not looking. How dare he embarrass her in front of her neighbor?

"Great. I was just telling Kuchiki-san about inviting you two to dinner tonight. Will you two make it?" Unohana replied, smiling at the two.

"I'm okay if Rukia is okay with it," Ichigo said, smiling down at the petite girl. He decided he likes the color red on that girl's cheeks.

"Urm, yeah. Sure. I'll swing by early to help," Rukia muttered, forcing a smile. Her brain cells were sizzling with ways to dismember a certain orange-top.

XXXXX

"_Dear honey, sugar potato bread of mine, do you mind if you meet me at the front step?"_

Ichigo chuckled. That was some classic line. It was like the poor girl was vomiting the words through clenched teeth. He giggled at the priceless expression on Rukia's face when he caught her off-balance with the endearment terms. He had overheard Rukia's conversation with the next-door neighbor for quite awhile and decided to provide an entertainment for their morning. He congratulated himself on the freak show.

As he descended the stairs to the front step, a hand reached over and smacked him over the head. "What was that for??" the petite girl hissed. "Are you trying to run for the country's most idiotic persona candidate??"

"Oww," Ichigo groaned. "Was that the way to greet your suitor? Where's my damn kiss??"

"Oh, you want a kiss? I'll give you a kiss!" She reached over to smack him again on the head. "Kiss my ass!"

Instinctively, Ichigo reached up and grabbed Rukia's wrist before the girl managed to cause any further damage. "Dammit, Rukia. I could report you to Domestic Abuse, you know?"

Rukia rolled her eyes. "Let go before I utilize my other limbs. I got three more, for your information," she reminded him.

Ichigo grinned. He pulled the hand to his side and managed to careen Rukia closer. "Ano, Kuchiki-san. This hand fits perfectly well in mine. Maybe we are destined to be together, ne?"

"And this hand can lock perfectly well with your jaw too," Rukia replied, teeth clenched. "Want me to give a show?"

Ichigo purposely swung their hands back and forth. "Why are you so mean to me, Kuchiki-san?" he asked, tilting his head to the side. He stared intently into her eyes, boring right through her.

Rukia fought the heat that was creeping on her cheeks. Leave it to her nerves to betray her at the most inconvenient of time. She purposely avoided the stare coming from those amber eyes. _Amber?_ Right. Suddenly she was creative with colors?

"Are you planning to answer me sometime this year? Or were you contemplating whether to answer me _before_ or _after_ you admit that you find me good looking?"

Rukia rolled her eyes. Why did she bother blushing in front of this dork again? "Don't flatter yourself, dorkwad. I'm not blind."

"But, but, I overheard you talking to Unohana-san about it!" Ichigo feigned stutter.

"That was it. Unohana-san said it, not me!"

"But somehow along the line, you were agreeing with her, right?"

"No!"

"Gee, Kuchiki-san. I love it when you are all red. It gives you the charming damsel-in-distress look that you lack of. You should stick with it, you know. Guys find it more endearing."

"Yeah? Then maybe you should remember this look well cuz starting from now, every time you are about to see it, you should scram," Rukia replied quietly, emphasizing on every word. With the other hand, she elbowed him hard in the gut. The poor guy doubled over in pain and immediately loosened his grasp on her wrist. "Next time you lock me in like that again, I'm taking your kidney with me."

XXXXX

Rukia cursed as her socked toes were mangled by the doorstep. She winced in pain while she hurriedly turned the keys in the hole. Crap! Why didn't she set the alarm before setting off to draw her sketch last night? She knew falling asleep on the sketching table is inevitable, and the least she could do for damage control is to make sure to wake up in time. But noooo, gullible her forgot to slam the knob on the stupid alarm clock and today she was running late. Perfect.

She heard a motorcycle being started. Careful not to drop her toast from her mouth, Rukia pulled on her sneakers. As she was struggling with the laces, the toast flapped over and some jam smothered onto her nose. She groaned. "Cwap," she muttered incoherently.

Chuckles. "Cwap? What dictionary are you using?"

Rukia's eyes narrowed into slits. She didn't have to turn around to know that the idiot was perched on his bike, smirking at her.

"Hey, organ stealer. Aren't we running a little bit late?"

Rukia cursed. She hoisted her backpack higher on her shoulder. Now that she had successfully pulled her shoes on, she removed the toast which had been the main reason why she was not spitting venoms Ichigo's way already. "You really do not have much love for your kidney, do you?" she asked lowly, making her way down the pavement, half-running. She'd deal with him later. For now, she'd give _anything_ to get in that subway in five minutes.

Ichigo smiled. He rode slowly, trying to keep in pace with Rukia's jogging. "Hop on," he said casually.

"What?" Rukia asked, temporarily deafened by the rumbling of the bike's engine.

"I said, hop on. You're gonna be late if you take the subway," Ichigo explained. He stopped by the roadside and waited for her to wipe the frown off her face.

"You're just going to run me over with that thing. Like hell I'd believe you."

Sighing, Ichigo untied the extra helmet and purposely put it on Rukia's head, despite the constant swatting from the girl. "That thing, is called a motorbike. Have respect on the pimp machine, alright?" he said, his hands expertly pulling on the cord. Once finished, he gave it a satisfactory pat. "Come on."

Rukia was rendered speechless. Although she refused to acknowledge the heat creeping on her cheeks, try as she might, she could not tune down neither her blush, nor her heartbeat.

"Besides, trust me, you won't want to go into the subway with your breakfast on your nose," he added. He swiped a finger casually on Rukia's nose, taking off the offending strawberry jam.

"I told you I love seeing you in red, but not _red-nosed_. Leave it to Rudolph to pull that look next time, okay?"

Rukia just wanted to die.

XXXXX


	6. Chapter 6

_A/N: Exams + on calls + hospital duties + birthday bash very busy girl. I apologize for the delay. Apologies to all grammarians out there; this one is sorta whacked. Sorry for the errors :D Introducing a new character, a vital one in this story. Read and shout out eh? Luff you people:)_

Rukia rolled on her bed and yawned. The morning sunlight filtered between the drawn curtains, illuminating the yellow room prettily. A smile curved on her lips; today is the first official day she would become a parent. She chuckled inwardly at herself for being so enthusiastic with the huge responsibility, but Ririn is a great kid, and the house won't feel too empty anymore.

Pulling herself off the bed, she stretched the sleepiness out of her. The bed creaked, reminding her of the creaking of her own spine last night while moving Ririn's stuff from the orphanage. Who thought that a 17-year-old girl could own so much?

With slippered feet, she dragged herself out to the living room. The curtain of the sliding door was still drawn. She made her way to the bedroom near the kitchen. Maybe Ririn was sleeping in because she spent the night away unpacking. She made a mental note to bring the girl for some shopping later. Maybe a new bedsheet and some racks. Opening the door, expecting to see the girl curled up under the comforter, instead she found the single bed empty and already neatly-made.

Rukia raised an eyebrow. Ririn is an early riser by nature, but it's Sunday. Where would the girl have gone to? Not the mall; it's barely 8. She double-checked the kitchen. Empty. She poked her head in the toilet. No sign of any breathing human soul. She pulled the curtain and peered outside. Only green grass and yesterday's laundry greeted her.

Should she freak out? It was her first day of being a parent and already she was losing the child. No, she's still around. Rukia was sure of it. Ririn's not the type to cause trouble and leave without telling her. Nope. Was she kidnapped? Heck, what would she pay the ransom money with?

Mustering all her thoughts, she climbed up the stairs separating her unit from Ichigo's. Maybe that idiot had seen the little girl around. She raised a hand to knock on the connecting door, before lowering it down again. She contemplated. _Not that I'm invading his private space. I'm just going to ask a question real quick, that's all_, she reminded herself. Right.

One knock. Two knocks. Thrice. Damn. Did that guy sleep in a different time zone or something? How deaf can a person be?

"Hold your pants!" came a muffled reply.

Rukia released the breath she didn't know she was holding. The door creaked open, revealing a disheveled Ichigo in his boxers. Thankfully, it was a plain blue one, and not silk. Blushing, Rukia brought her eyes above the neck level.

"Why were you trying to break my door down at 8 in the morning, Kuchiki?" he inquired, scratching the back of his head as he stifled a yawn.

Rukia fumbled for words. "Urm. Ano, did you happen to see a girl hanging around the house? She's about my height, with short brown hair."

Ichigo raised an eyebrow. "So you decided to violate our agreement for this?"

"Uh, what agreement?" Rukia asked innocently.

"That connecting doors are off-limits. I believe that's under number 8," Ichigo reminded her.

Rukia ran a hand through her hair. "Come on, Kurosaki. Have you seen the girl or not?" she repeated, albeit a little bit demanding. She was focusing on not losing her cool.

"Ohaiyo, Rukia-nee!"

Rukia stumbled backward, shocked and relieved combined. She looked at the grinning face peering from behind Ichigo's shoulder.

Ichigo flashed a lazy grin. "Oh, you mean, this kid?" he asked, gesturing at the girl behind him.

Narrowing her eyes, Rukia planted her hands on her hips. "What's she doing in there with you? Did he force you to come up here, Ririn?"

Pushing Ichigo aside, Ririn brought herself between the two adults who were trying to shoot daggers to each other. "No such thing, Nee-chan. I didn't know you have such a cool neighbor!"

Rukia frowned at the smirk on Ichigo's face at the mention of 'cool neighbor' by Ririn. "Don't go disappearing on me like that again, Ririn," Rukia scolded lightly, ignoring Ririn's comment on her neighbor. She grabbed the girl's shoulders in a half-hug. "Let's go down. What do you want for breakfast?"

Ririn's eyes lighted up. "Is Ichi-Nii joining us?"

"Ichi-Nii??"

"Yeah. He's around your age, so it's only appropriate for me to be calling him that, don't you think??" Ririn explained, arms flailing and all. "So, is he joining us?" she repeated, hopeful.

Rukia scratched her head. The day Kurosaki Ichigo steps into her kitchen is the day she would consider eating a snail for lunch. "Uh, I'm sure he has other plans…" she replied, glaring at Ichigo, daring him to disagree.

Ichigo takes dares well. "Nah. I'm always free at 8 in Sunday mornings," he replied casually, leaning on the doorframe.

"Alright!" Ririn pumped her fist in the air. "How bout muffins? I miss your muffins," the girl suggested, giving her adopted sister a wistful look. "Ichi-nii and I can help you bake em!"

Rukia opened her mouth to protest.

"Yeah. I could do that. I mean, at least something to fare for the free meal, right?"

"You mean, you've never eaten with Rukia-nee before?" Ririn's eyes bulged as she exclaimed unbelievably. "She's a fab cook. You don't know what you're missing, Ichi-nii."

Ichigo grinned. "Enlighten me, then."

XXXXX

Rukia felt tempted to bang the mixing bowl into the sink. Since when did she host a welfare house for ungrateful, loud college guys nowhere approaching maturity? She glared at the guy standing by the formica counter, his humming annoyed the heck out of her.

"You know that look could not kill me, so you oughta stop trying," he said nonchalantly as he diligently stirred the muffin batter.

Rukia rolled her eyes. "I was hoping for some sort of miracle," she retorted. "You'd be surprised if I could spew some disfiguring liquids from my eyes."

Ichigo chuckled. "From which planet are you from again?"

"Probably from the one with highly-intellectual beings who happen to have allergies to idiotic people like you."

"Hey, as long as I have free muffins for breakfast, I'm just gonna let it go by me," Ichigo commented, smiling.

Rukia gave one last shot of a glare to him, hoping to somehow disfigure the guy. She had sent Ririn to the groceries to buy more eggs since the last few were used up for the muffin batter. The house had otherwise been pretty quiet before their banter, and immediately Rukia missed the tranquility. She greased the muffin pan silently, praying Ririn would return soon.

"Is she your sister?"

"Yeah."

"She has brown hair, Kuchiki."

"Glad to know at least your eyesights are doing fine."

"And maybe you've never heard of the word 'genetics'."

"And in this world, being half-sisters or adopted siblings are unheard of."

Ichigo went silent. For being half-sisters or adopted siblings, she sure was fond of the younger girl. _Protective too._ Ichigo smiled as the image of Rukia putting an arm around Ririn returned to him. "The former of the latter?"

"What?"

"Half sister or adopted?"

"Why does it matter to you?" Rukia shot back. Suddenly she felt uncomfortable with Ichigo's growing concern.

Ichigo shrugged. "I just want to figure if the temper and annoying traits are hereditary."

"Nah, I think it's contagious cause I got it from you," Rukia replied coolly. She shoved the greased pan Ichigo's way. "Pour the batter into the hole. Think you can manage that?" she challenged.

"Oh. You mean this is not to be poured on your head?" Ichigo countered innocently.

"You won't dare," Rukia taunted, already reaching for the ladle on the counter.

"Try me," Ichigo replied.

Suddenly the house shook with thunder. Unconsciously, Rukia cowered at the booming sound. Gone were the sunshine and the chirping birds, being replaced by gloomy clouds and heavy downpour. Both Rukia and Ichigo gaped at the sudden joke pulled by Mother Nature. Was it only 20 seconds ago that the sun had shone fearlessly?

"Crap," Rukia muttered as Ririn came into mind. The girl left only in her thin hooded sweatshirt. With the rate the rain was pouring, the poor girl would be soaked to the bone, with added hypothermia in order. Dropping the ladle back onto the counter, Rukia dashed to the store and pulled an umbrella out.

Ichigo watched as Rukia darted around the living room, collecting her keys and cellphone. "Where are you going?" he called.

"Uh, to fetch Ririn," Rukia replied absent-mindedly, pulling a sneaker on.

"In that?"

Rukia stopped abusing her sneaker and looked down on herself to comprehend what Ichigo was indicating. A pair of her oldest sweat pants and a pink tank top. A tint of blush crept onto her cheeks. She couldn't believe herself to be parading around the house only in her tank top in the vicinity of the carrot-top! Had she gone mentally-deranged?

"Uh…"

Ichigo smirked. "Don't worry. At least the hole in the pants is not _that _big."

"What hole?" Rukia asked, horrified at the thought of a hole in her pants. She patted down her butt, thighs, legs, searching fruitlessly for the said hole.

Ichigo burst out laughing. "You are so gullible, Kuchiki!"

Realizing Ichigo's comedic stint, Rukia narrowed her eyes. "You'd better be careful if you don't want your head to be in the oven. Kurosaki!" she shouted, almost tempted to haul the umbrella past the couch towards the kitchen, where Ichigo was merrily laughing at her. Fuming, she turned on her heels, grabbed a sweatshirt lying nearby and began heading for the door.

And the knob turned.

"Man, is Karakura's weather always this funny?"

"Ririn!" Rukia exclaimed, relieved that the girl was home. "You're soaked. Let me get a towel."

Ichigo watched as Rukia disappeared into a room, probably to retrieve the said towel. He felt himself smiling as he watched Rukia fussing around the drenched child. She really looked extremely worried as she laid the towel around Ririn's small shoulders.

"I hope the eggs are not smashed or something. I broke into a marathon once the rain poured down," Ririn babbled, flashing one of her cute smiles. She snuggled deeper into the terry towel, glad for the warmth it provided. "If they are not pooling chicken goo in that plastic, do you think you could whip me up your baked omelette, Nee-chan?"

Rukia smiled warmly as she muzzled the girl's hair. "Sure. Now just get in the shower, would you? I don't want you catching cold on the first day of school."

And Ririn disappeared into her room, while Rukia entered the kitchen again. This time with a sweatshirt on, zipped til the neck.

XXXXX

"Urm, hello. You're not Ichi-nii."

Rukia smiled confusedly at the younger girl. "Last time I checked, no," she replied. "Do you happen to get the wrong house, dear?" she inquired at the two girls standing in her doorway.

"I guess so…" the girl with orange hair replied softly, as she eyed the brass plate number nailed above the doorframe.

"But we got the address right," the girl with a baseball cap on argued.

Rukia lifted an eyebrow. "Hmm, let me see. Maybe I happen to know the person you're trying to find?"

"I'm gonna go up real quick and I'll help you with it, okay?" Ichigo's voice calling to Ririn could be heard over the background. He jogged silently towards the staircase, pausing to scrutinize Rukia's figure at the doorway. _Who's she with?_

"That's Ichi-nii's voice!" The baseball cap girl exclaimed.

_Ichi-nii?_

"Hey, is that you, Karin?"

She was a whole new breed of slow that day.

Rukia stepped aside as she let the two girls enter her house, both of whom were making a beeline towards Ichigo. Ichi-nii? _Since when did the guy start a fan club?_ Rukia nudged her foot at the door, closing it gently. She stayed muted as the orange-haired girl wrapped her arms around the guy, while the baseball-cap girl beamed and joined the group hug.

"Are you Ichi-nii's girlfriend?"

Eyes bulging, Rukia shook her head vehemently. "No."

"Are you guys living together?"

"No." She didn't have the heart to shout, although the very crazy idea of living together with the idiot obviously calls for a shout.

Ichigo chuckled. He slung both arms around both sisters. "Karin, Yuzu, this is my apartment-mate, Rukia. This is really her house. Mine's upstairs," Ichigo explained, taking the liberty to save the squirming Rukia.

Yuzu aah-ed. She flashed a bright smile to Rukia. "Hi, I'm Yuzu. This is Karin, my twin. Nice to meet you," she greeted, offering a handshake.

Rukia returned the gesture. "Nice meeting you too," she replied, shaking hands with both twins. "Come on in. We have strawberry muffins in the oven and some bacon and eggs," she continued, ushering both girls to the living room.

Yuzu beamed. Karin smiled.

"Thank you, Rukia san. You should bring Rukia-san home for dinner, Ichi-nii. Papa is always asking to meet your girlfriend."

"I'm not his girlfriend," Rukia repeated. Maybe the girl didn't hear her the first time.

"Right," Yuzu sing-sang.

Ichigo scratched his head. "Really, she's not my girlfriend."

"Yet," came Karin curt reply, complete with a smirk.

XXXXX


	7. Chapter 7

_A/N: I've been in such a hyper mood all day, this came out in less than two hours. I sure hope it won't suck much. Besides almost losing my eyebrows to the oven, I'm in such a dorkily high spirit. Enjoy the holidays, and Seasons' Greetings, everybody. Hope everybody likes. :D_

Rukia darted from the sink to the oven and pulled out her Toaster Strudels. She heard the connecting door creaked open and later followed by a pair of feet paddling down the stairs.

"Hey, do you think I could borrow a cup of sugar?"

Rukia raised an eyebrow. She turned from her plate of hot strawberry strudels and looked up at a very scruffy Ichigo. She frowned. She was about to let slide a snappy comment about not opening up a grocery store when Ichigo's weary expression caught her sight. She felt her own expression softened. "Yeah. Go ahead."

Smiling tiredly, Ichigo made his way to the counter and pulled the sugar container from the cabinet. "Ririn's gone to school already?"

"Yup," she answered curtly, eyeing the tall guy, who was scooping her sugar into a plastic cup. "Late night?" she inquired lightly.

"Yeah," Ichigo replied, not turning his back from the counter. "Had an endemic in the ER," he explained.

Rukia nodded numbly. She knew she heard the front door upstairs slammed at such odd hours last night. No wonder he looked like hell vomited over him. He barely had 3 hours of sleep. "Are you going to class later?"

"Yeah. I think I'm going to fall into a coma even before the lecturer greets us 'Good Morning'."

Rukia chuckled. "No offense. But you looked like hell took you for a pimp ride."

Ichigo laughed. He screwed the cap back on and turned to look at the girl. Funny that they were not on each other's throats nowadays. Since that day when Ririn had practically 'invited' him into their household, both Rukia and Ichigo have been civil with each other. He's not sure if he missed being able to argue every chance they were in the same room, but these changes, where they smiled and held polite conversations, are not bad at all. "Are you going to class soon?"

"Yeah. I am. In thirty minutes, perhaps."

"Wait up. I'd crash if I ride today. Might as well join you in the subway."

XXXXX

"I didn't know it's going to be this cold," Ichigo muttered, stuffing his hands into his jeans. The temperature has dropped significantly overnight, indicating the start of winter.

All around them people donned on heavy overcoats complete with mufflers around their neck. He looked down at Rukia's hands covered in purple mittens, feeling slightly envious.

Rukia grinned. "What are you eyeing my gloves for? I'm not gonna offer them to you, you know."

Ichigo rolled his eyes. "I'd die before I wear anything with that color."

"Righttt," Rukia replied. She tightened her grip on her bag as they waited for the lights to change. "When are you going home for Christmas?" she asked casually.

He shrugged. "Probably by Christmas eve. We don't really go mad over it. Probably Yuzu will throw a feast, and that's all."

"So what did you buy for the girls?" Rukia inquired. The lights turned to green and together with other pedestrians, they made a crossing towards the train subway.

"Oh shit!" Ichigo wailed, slapping his forehead as he dragged his feet across. "I totally forgot about that part!"

Rukia burst out laughing again. "Probably the most substantial part of the season and you've forgotten all about it. I wonder where you left half of your brain, Kurosaki," she mused. After flashing her autocard at the machine and waited for Ichigo to buy manual ticket from the counter, they walked in line towards the elevator.

"My best bet on the X-ray machine yesterday," he muttered. "Dude, I'm so whipped if I don't show up with some gifts. I'm their only refuge from all the insane gifts my dad gave them each year."

Rukia gave him a sympathetic smile. Luckily the train was almost empty as they were approaching off-peak hours. "You still got a couple more days. Good luck hunting for them."

"I always have a hard time trying to decide what to choose for the twins. It'd save me a lot of hassles if they were boys; I'd pick up a Nintendo and be off with it, don't you think?"

"Think you got it hard, Kurosaki? Try buying gifts for 11 kids," Rukia offered.

Ichigo winced. "Ouch. 11 kids?"

She laughed. "You wouldn't want to know how long I'd starved on instant noodles for the kids' presents. I can't play favorite so I have to allocate fair amount of cash for each present. That's the easy part," she explained.

Ichigo grinned. Rukia made it sound so easy to herd a group of kids under one roof. He had heard countless times from Ririn as she accounted her life in the orphanage. He was secretly awed as how a petite college girl like Rukia was able to shoulder so much responsibility even before stepping into adulthood.

He also noticed how fond Yuzu and Karin of the girl. The twins visited constantly as they turned out to be Ririn's classmates in her new school. Most of the time when the girls showed up during the weekends, Rukia would at least bake some cookies for the girls to bring home.

An idea flashed into his head. "Think you could lend me some expertise as what to shop for the girls?"

Rukia glanced up. She cocked her head to the side, deliberating, before her cellphone went off. "Hold that thought," she instructed as she flipped open the phone. "Speak," she said monotonously.

Ichigo watched as Rukia's face turned slightly pink, and her lips curved up into a pretty smile. _What an effect_, Ichigo mused. _Must be one hell of a caller._

"When did you come back?" he heard her asking the question, her hands toying with the mittens now pulled off and placed neatly on her lap.

"I'm celebrating Christmas at home, as usual. Why don't you come and join us?"

Then the smile turned into a slight frown. Ichigo wondered what went wrong to have the gravity of pulling down the corners of her lips. "Ahh… It's ok. I understand…" she whispered, at last.

Ichigo raised an eyebrow. He didn't know Rukia could whisper. All this while they were shouting at each other, he forgot how delicate and soft the girl's voice actually was.

"Well, I hope next time when you're in town I'd be able to see you," she spoke again, this time with much confidence. The smile was back.

"Hmm… I miss you too." The last part was barely audible, but Ichigo heard it all the same. He smirked as the girl flipped her phone close.

"Boyfriend?" he inquired.

Fumbling for words, Rukia felt the heat creeping on her cheeks. "Uh…"

"Somehow while you were busy trying to form a coherent sentence, I've gotten the answer already," Ichigo replied, smirking.

Rukia smiled faintly.

"So, he's not from JNU obviously," he continued, trying to dig deeper. Somehow he felt compelled to learn more.

Rukia shook her head. "Nope. We were classmates in high school. He went off to Seoul for Student Exchange," she explained, a little smile still lingering on her lips as she recalled one of her oldest friends.

Ichigo nodded mutely. Why the thoughts of Rukia having a boyfriend hadn't occurred to him before was beyond him. Not like this girl is not pretty, in fact, he had found her attractive most of the times, even alluring. "So, is he back for Christmas?"

"Yeah…"

"But from the conversation I grasped he will not be able to make it to see you?" he concluded.

Rukia smiled softly. "Do you make it a habit to listen to other people's conversation?"

"Only when the person talking is sitting a seat away. You were not exactly being inconspicuous about it, Kuchiki," Ichigo replied, grinning.

"But was I talking albeit too loudly? Did I indicate for it to be eavesdropped?" Rukia challenged.

"Aww, I liked you better five minutes ago. Can't we not start this? I'm getting a headache," Ichigo whined.

Smirking, Rukia tilted her head to the side. "Hahha. Don't go and develop aneurysm or something. So what were you saying about expertise?"

"Right. Do you think you could help me pick out some presents for the girls?" Ichigo inquired, remembering his request. "That'd save me a lot of time."

Rukia pondered. She rubbed her chin for awhile before answering. "Sure. Not like I've got much to do tonight since Ririn will be back late from choir practice," she answered, shrugging her shoulders.

Ichigo blinked back in surprise. "Sure?" He was hoping for her to agree, but not before several arguments and insults thrown in.

Rukia contained a laugh. "Are you asking me to be sure about my decision now? Cause I could retract it back, you know."

Laughing, Ichigo settled comfortably into his seat. "No, no. Man, you don't know how relieved I am. Thanks," he replied earnestly.

Rukia smiled. "No prob. But tonight's dinner is on you."

XXXXX

"Kurosaki, I said 'think feminine', not go all drag queen on me!" Rukia exclaimed, before cracking up. She pulled on the tacky frou-frou metallic blue shawl dangling on Ichigo's shoulder. "I'd kill you myself if you get that for Yuzu," she continued, shaking her head at Ichigo's taste in fashion, or lack thereof.

Ichigo rolled his eyes. "You're not being any help here. If I don't get out of this mall with two nifty gifts by the time it closes, you're only going to have _your_ saliva as your dinner," he threatened.

"That's not such a nice remark to somebody who burned 4 important hours of her life to assist you shopping. I don't wear the tag of your private secretary, Kurosaki."

"No, but you're wearing the Miss I'm-such-a-pain-in-the-gluteus, kick-me-so-help-me-God nametag," Ichigo retorted.

"If you need to be inflicted with pain in said area so much, Kurosaki, I'd be glad to assist you in that," Rukia sing-sang. She flashed him a toothy grin.

"Kuchiki, help me choose a gift!"

"Did you just wail? No, seriously. You just wailed! Oh my God, the invincible Kurosaki Ichigo just freaking wailed!"

Ichigo rolled his eyes, for the umpteenth time. Frustrated, he hurled the grotesque shawl across the cabinet, getting a dirty look from a sales assistant who stood nearby. "Why don't you go and alert the media?"

Rukia smiled prettily. "I want San Francisco's Grills for dinner. And urm, maybe some Swensen ice cream for supper."

"That's some grub. Are you preparing for a starvation campaign or something?"

"Or I think I have some frozen pizza in the fridge. And you can suffer and bleed a slow death here in the mall. Your pick," Rukia negotiated, shrugging. "Choose wisely, though," she added, the smile was a constant image on her face then.

Ichigo groaned.

XXXXX

"The girls are gonna love the presents. I'm such an awesome brother," Ichigo marveled, gesturing at the shopping bags in his hand.

Rukia rolled her eyes. She zipped up her brown jacket snugly as the chill December air blew to her face. "You're welcome," she said sarcastically.

Ichigo grinned. The trip to the mall that night was a great success, all thanks to the girl walking casually next to him. He had to admit, despite burning a hole in his wallet, Rukia did have fabulous ideas with gifts for her sisters, what's with having almost a dozen siblings of her own. The dinner afterwards was pleasant, and Ichigo was kind of warming to the idea of being friends with the girl.

Rukia stole a glance at him, who went surprisingly quiet. "What's up?" she asked.

"Thinking of how to survive till New Year on barely 100 yen. I'm officially destitute, Kuchiki. All credits goes to you," Ichigo replied, a small smile on his lips.

Rukia chuckled. "Trust me, when you see the smiles on their faces, it's all going to worth it."

"It is, huh?" he replied wistfully.

"I used to hand make most of the gifts when I was still in high school. Working as a cashier didn't exactly call for a hefty paycheck, so when I had about 15 presents I had to prepare for, I resorted to being innovative," she explained. She shoved her hands deeper into her jacket pockets. "Remind me when you'll be leaving for home so that I can pass the girls' presents to you," she added.

Ichigo wrinkled his forehead. "You bought Yuzu and Karin presents?"

Rukia shrugged. "Why not? They visit enough to be considered family."

Ichigo paused in his walk to scrutinize the petite girl.

"Kurosaki?" Rukia called, once she realized that the tall guy was lagging behind. Turning on her heels, she waited for him to catch up. "What happened?" she inquired, curious.

Ichigo flashed a small smile. "Don't freak, but I'm about to declare that you have such a big heart," he replied. He lifted a finger in a mock warning. "Now remember, do not freak. Nor pass out. I only have two hands. I'd choose these shopping bags over you any day, big-hearted or not."

Rukia blinked back in surprise. Then she burst out laughing.

"That's refreshing," Ichigo said lightly.

Wiping off the grin off her face, Rukia raised a questioning brow.

"The laughter. I was immuned to the roars and spitfires."

He laughed as he felt her sneaker made contact with his shin. They continued arguing until they approached the gate of their house. Under the streetlights, Ichigo noticed a red haired guy sitting on the curb, a phone to his ear. Rukia stopped in her tracks. Ichigo followed suit.

"Renji?"

XXXXX


	8. Chapter 8

_A/N: It was a white Christmas. Whee! Been busy downing lotsa good food, I have to go and run a marathon by New Year. This chappie is a little bland, therefore my apology. I'm concentrating on turns of events in the coming chapter, so I hope everybody bears with me as I get to the pinnacle of the story._

_P/S – I hope you guys who reviewed read the review page cause I'd be posting a reply to everyone. Don't think I'm not grateful for the reviews, I so am! I am also in desperate need of a beta reader, so if you love the story enough to volunteer, just mail me with the details. Thank you thank you thank you! With that said, happy reading, and Happy 2007, everybody :D_

Ichigo watched as Rukia's face lighted up. The smile radiating on her face let him know that the red haired guy is somebody awfully special to her. Rukia took a step forward, as the said guy stood up from the curb and made his way to the petite girl. "Hey you."

"Hey yourself," Rukia greeted as the guy wrapped his arms around her in an embrace. "You're home," she whispered.

"And you were not," the guy joked after pulling apart. He raised his eyes from the girl and settled them on Ichigo. "Who you with?"

Ichigo plastered on a small civil smile. "Kurosaki Ichigo. I live upstairs."

Renji arched an eyebrow, a long arm still wrapped protectively around Rukia's small shoulders. "You mean, the mother-in-law?" he inquired again gruffly.

"He's the guy I emailed you about," Rukia butted in, poking Renji in the rib. She knew better than to let Renji started acting all male and possessive. "Kurosaki, this is Abarai Renji."

Both gentlemen exchanged brief handshakes. Some pleasantries later, Ichigo excused himself and bid goodnight to the pair. He could still see from the corner of his eye as Renji bent down and planted a soft kiss on Rukia's lips.

XXXXX

Rukia was anxious. He could tell from the way she ran her hand in her hair millions of times since she knocked on his connecting door. If this was the way the girl would be when she's nervous, Ichigo prayed she had a darn good shampoo to prevent any hair loss with the rate she's messing with it now.

"Uh. This is kinda like a huge favor for me to ask from you, but considering that we're now on speaking terms and you're actually not that intolerable…"

Ichigo raised an eyebrow.

Rukia blushed, raking a hand in her hair. "Uh, that was not supposed to sound _that_ bad…"

"Spit it."

"Eh?"

"Spit it before you unconsciously add more verbal abuse to the sentence, hence ruining the glittery effect," Ichigo explained, smiling. He leaned a hand on the doorframe, looking down at the petite girl in front of him.

Rukia fidgeted. Heck, this was something huge to ask from him. No amount of retracting past insults were going to cut it. "Urm, Renji's gonna spend the night so I thought maybe you could take him in for awhile. Please?" she finally vomited the words out.

Ichigo smirked. "What happened to your couch?"

"Urm, not exactly an option," Rukia replied, her fingers were tangled in nervous bundles.

"Why not? Not like it's occupied. My room, for one, is," Ichigo reasoned. He drummed his fingers on the doorframe. He knew he was getting on her nerves, but it was fun seeing her fiddle and twitch under his gaze. He had seen multiple expressions from her face before, but this one was sort of new. Endearing, he reckoned.

"Urm…"

Ichigo raised a questioning eyebrow. He saw how much in love the girl was with the redhead sitting down there in her living room, but she couldn't even let him crash in the sofa for a night? "You've never done this before, have you?" he put on a lucky guess.

Rukia blushed.

Ichigo gaped. And there she was, an ass-kicking architectural freshman, who worked part time as a bartender at one of the most rowdy clubs in campus, deathly afraid at the prospect of her OWN boyfriend spending the night on her COUCH.

"You know, normally I would laugh at how funny and illogical I find the scenario is, but I'm going to be that cool tolerable guy you told me about and agree," Ichigo said, smiling. Rukia's eyes instantly lighted up like a Christmas tree. "But under one condition."

The Christmas tree dimmed and gave way to a frown. "Condition?"

"Yeah. I don't run free lodgings for other people's boyfriends, you know."

Rukia laughed. "Smartass."

"I want to share the kitchen. That includes the sink, the dishwasher, the fridge, the cabinets and the cooking utensils."

"Do you want to share the cooking turns too?" Rukia asked cheekily.

Rolling his eyes, Ichigo crossed both arms in from of him. "Shall be brought up later for discussion, under my preference."

On normal occasion, Rukia would settle into a detailed deliberation before giving up another of her comfort zone. But not that night. "You can kidnap my rice cooker for all that I care," Rukia responded.

Ichigo laughed.

XXXXX

"So, you've lived here long?"

Ichigo glanced up from the Pathology book he was working on and gazed at the man lying on the futon on the floor of his small apartment. "Hmm, give and take four months," he responded.

Renji nodded his head acutely. He folded his hands and tucked them under his head as a makeshift pillow. "Has Rukia been doing alright?"

Ichigo chuckled. "You know she'd pull out fine even if you stick her in a lion's cage."

A small smile played on Renji's lips. "Yeah, she's feisty like that. But underneath that external exterior, she's one soft cookie. You should have seen her with the kids."

"You mean, the loads in the orphanage?"

"Yeah. We grew up together. Kuchiki sama took me in when I was twelve. Dispatched me to my foster parents two years later," Renji volunteered. Ichigo nodded mutely. Maybe the other guy was in a chattering mode.

"Rukia is a special girl," suddenly Renji said aloud, after a moment of silence.

Startled, Ichigo looked up again from his notes. He deliberated before answering. "You don't have to do the peeing around the territory thing with me."

Silence. Renji finally sat up and crossed his legs Indian style. "I'm not indicating that-"

"But you were indicating something," Ichigo cut in, chuckling. "Rukia is a friend, that's it. Nothing to be worried about. I'm not a pussy to go after another guy's girl."

Renji clamped his mouth shut. When Rukia had first told him about the other tenant for the mother-in-law apartment, he was almost positive the image that came to mind was of a very nerdy, preppy college boy with thick glasses shoved on his nose. But the moment she appeared beyond the shadow of the streetlights tonight, with that boy tagging along, he felt something stirred up in him.

Sure, he loved Rukia. He had gotten over that fact a few years back, and they had been going on steady since then. The girl has been some sort of a stability in his life; he knew she'd always be there, a phone call or a MSN-chat away.

Stability used to be a good thing; something he craved, even better than any cracks out there could offer. But stability could also lose its sparks, especially when an ocean is thrown in between both individuals.

"If I didn't know any better, with all the time you took to justify my response, I'd reckon you're ditching the girl up."

Renji froze.

Ichigo pushed his chair back and stood up. "I'm going downstairs for a drink. Anything you want?"

XXXXX

"I think I don't like Renji too much," Ririn spoke. She kicked a pebble on her way and the pebble made a projection into the puddle.

"And I think you shouldn't hate him too much, considering he's Rukia's boyfriend and everything," Ichigo said wisely.

The girl groaned. "Don't I know it? It's not that I hate him _hate him_."

Ichigo chuckled. He slung an arm around the girl's shoulders. He had never seen Ririn being so expressive about anybody before. Renji is slowly taking an effect into that household, he mused. "That doesn't make sense, Ririn."

"It doesn't, huh?" she replied wistfully. "But nobody's that suave, Ichi-nii. He's a smooth talker, that one. One sentence from him and Rukia-nee is putty in his hands."

"Being a smooth talker is not a sin," Ichigo replied. "She loves him, so it works. One day, when you're whackly smitten over a guy like how your sister is, you'd understand."

Ririn gave a wry smile. She rejoiced the fact that Ichigo was level-headed enough and didn't feed her with other misguiding info about Renji. For the past couple of days as Renji bunked in with him, the girl could detect Ichigo's discomfort whenever the redhead was around. Other than pleasantries, they were no more than civil towards each other. He knew it, she knew it. Unfortunately, Rukia didn't.

She smiled at the hand wrapped around her shoulders. She always thought that it was cool to be walking with a hot college guy like Ichigo. She always noticed how the other members of her own species would react to him whenever they walked together to the subway. The guy is good-looking in his own unique way; loud orange hair with deep-set amber eyes, the serious and sturdy face with a lean body to match.

Now that she thought about it, he never brought a girl home, nor did she notice if he's ever been out on a date before. She was sure he wouldn't have a problem securing one if he wanted to, but the question was, why didn't he?

"How come I've never seen you with a girl before?" Ririn spoke up suddenly.

"And you're suddenly a transsexual?" Ichigo refuted.

Ririn burst out laughing. "Except for me and Rukia-nii, you idiot! You know she will so kick your ass if she knows that you mentioned the 's' word to me," she kidded, wriggling her eyebrows.

Ichigo chuckled. "Nah, that's an innocent scientific term. Besides, you're already 17, she couldn't be there to rise up her hands to cover your ears every time a vulgar word comes up."

"So, going back to my original question, please tell me you're not applying to be a celibate. Cause what a waste it would be for the female population," Ririn said, grinning. She suddenly pointed to a random girl sobbing over a letter on a bench at the subway entrance. "Look, that one is already crying. You should really prevent it before it becomes an epidemic."

Ichigo threw his head back and burst into a full laugh.

"What? It's true. I would date you if you're 17 and I haven't already called you Ichi-nii," the girl continued, smiling innocently.

Ichigo's laughter ceased. He grinned down at the girl standing next to him; his eyes were still crinkling with the remainder of the laughter. "You're a piece of work. And you said Renji was suave."

Ririn grinned and winked, encouraging more laughter from Ichigo. "Please do not use any of the sentences with other guys, especially those of your hormone-induced high school friends," he said in between laughter. "And that wink," he paused, pointing an index finger to Ririn, emphasizing his point. "Never, ever do that to any breathing male again. I'm almost afraid of what their reaction would be," he continued.

"You're not answering my question, Ichi-nii," Ririn whined.

"I would date you if you were not 17 and I haven't already muzzled your hair too," he replied. "My cool, awesome dream girl is in high school. Tough luck, eh?" He then winked for good measure.

Ririn beamed. "Right. Such loss." She then snapped her fingers. "I know somebody who is equally cool and awesome _and_ not in high school that you can date!" she exclaimed.

"Oh yeah?"

"Oh yeah." She nodded vigorously, some of the brown strands of hair escaped from the clip that secured them in place. "How about Rukia-nee?"

XXXXX


	9. Chapter 9

_A/N: This one is slightly lengthy. And the next one is going to be even longer. This came out in a whim. To Renji's fans, I apologize in advanced. :D Heaps of thanks to my wonderful beta-reader: Brittany for such a quick read. Enjoy, and do not forget to drop by your love/hate (kinda prefer the former tho!). Happy New Year!_

_Disclaimer: Kubo Tite and his awesome-ness owns everything, except for the AU plot. _

"Morning."

Ichigo raised an eyebrow. He pulled a mug from the cabinet and poured himself a mug of coffee. "Morning," he replied. Rukia was perched on one of the stools along the island, reading a lecture conspectus. "You've got class today?"

Rukia nodded. "Yeah. There's some scrambled egg in the pan. Some bacon here," she added, motioning to the plate on the island.

Ichigo grinned. "Are you actually being nice to me, Kuchiki?"

"Take it, or leave it. I sure have some room for more bacon."

Grabbing a fork, Ichigo settled on the stool opposite to Rukia. He watched as she nibbled on her toast. "You're gonna be fine?"

Rukia smiled wryly. "It's not exactly I need his lungs to breathe, Kurosaki. You, of all people should know that," she remarked.

Ichigo laughed. "I thought the saying goes 'I cannot live without you, you're the air that I breathe, the blood that flows through my veins', some crappy stuff like that?"

"Right. I'm in love, Kurosaki, not pathetic."

"You should be careful cause there's always a fine line in between," he reminded her as he shoved a forkful of eggs into his mouth. He watched as the corners of her eyes crinkled with laughter.

"You'll learn when the time comes. Although I would allocate a pray especially for the unfortunate girl," she replied, smiling. Ichigo rolled his eyes good-naturedly. "This reminds me, thank you for being so cool with Renji bunking in."

Ichigo shrugged. "It's a win-win situation, so I ain't gonna complain," he said. He chewed slowly on his bacon before grinning. "Although I may have something else I forgot to request."

It was Rukia's turn to roll her eyes. "I _knew_ it."

"Can you bake those muffins we had the first day Ririn was here again? That was some seriously good stuff."

Rukia blinked. She felt her frown turning into a smile. "That's it?"

"Yeah, that's it. What do you think I'm gonna ask for? A strip show?"

Blushing, she reached over the table and shoved Ichigo's shoulder playfully. "Lay off before I smack you in the head," she threatened.

Ichigo laughed. "You're so easy, Kuchiki."

"Ha-ha," she replied dryly. Getting off her stool, she threw him a look over her shoulder. "I'm gonna make some for the girls' Christmas play tomorrow anyway, so yeah, I guess you could help yourself with one or two."

"Oh. That play is tomorrow?" Ichigo inquired, losing track of time. He was sure it was supposed to be on the Christmas Eve. "Isn't it supposed to be on the Christmas Eve?"

"Yeah. What calendar are you using then, Kurosaki? The Mesopotamian?" she inquired, raising an eyebrow at him as she loaded the dished into the dishwasher. "I think all the formalin is getting to your brain cells."

"Shit. I haven't gotten any flowers for Yuzu and Karin!" he exclaimed, dropping his fork as he slapped his forehead. "Pop's gonna have some meeting with the elders so he couldn't make it. Damn, why couldn't I be the second child or something?" he whined.

"If I told you I'm going to the florist today, would you quit whining?"

And like a magician just wove her wand, Ichigo beamed. "You are?"

"I am. I'm pretty sure most shops are not going to be opened tomorrow, so I'm buying them tonight," she explained, while draining her hands with the rag hanging by the sink. "Anything in particular you might want me to choose for your sisters?"

Ichigo paused, deliberating. Not that he had anything planned after a short lecture today. Most of his friends are going back home for the holiday, save him whose house is only at the other end of town. He shrugged. "Hold that thought. Maybe I should tag along. I don't want you to be getting a wreath for my sisters' play."

Ichigo duck as a plastic plate came flying from across the room, and he burst out laughing.

XXXXX

"I didn't know they do deliveries even on Christmas eve," Rukia marveled. "That was an awesome bouquet. You had quite an eye, Kurosaki."

Ichigo smirked.

"I've been meaning to say, you've got quite a queer eye for a straight guy," she continued, smiling innocently. "Come to think of it. I haven't seen you with a girl before. Maybe you're not that straight-. Oww!"

"If you want me to prove my manhood that much, Kuchiki, you should have just asked," Ichigo commented, as he grinned at the sight of Rukia rubbing the sore spot on her forehead.

Rukia feigned gagging, although she could feel the heat creeping on her cheeks. Slapping mental images away, she put up a retort. "You're no fun, Kurosaki. Wait till I tell my brother about how perverted you are. He would kick your ass to next week."

"Like you should be talking. I'm sure your brother would understand once I told him how u tried to hurt my pride by doubting my sexuality. Us straight guys stick with each other."

So the night continued as both of them got caught up in harmless banters. The Karakura town was bathed in lights; everything was shimmering so bright in conjunction with the season's holiday that was only two days away. Kids were tugging their parents' sleeves, friends linking arms together and lovers promising a more passionate tomorrow.

"Ririn and I are taking the train home tomorrow. So you'll be having the place right up til New Year. Try not to set the place on fire," Rukia spoke casually, a small smirk on her face. She watched as the guy snorted.

"You know, you'd be so awesome and actually irresistible if you didn't have a sharp tongue to boot," Ichigo countered. He clicked his tongue, shaking his head disapprovingly as Rukia shot out a foot to purposely connect it with his shin. "And what's with that attitude? Do you know how much my shin cost? Once broken considered sold, missy."

Rukia laughed. "You can take your hairy shin and sell it at the 99-cent shop and still no one would consider buying it."

"Are you making fun of me?"

"You and your stupid shin both, Kurosaki."

Ichigo grabbed a handful of snow which accumulated on the nearby bus stop awning, and dunked it on Rukia's hair. The whites of the flakes created a contrast setback against the girl's raven hair, and Rukia let out a small squeal as the snow trickled down her neck and underneath her parka, sending an instant shiver running down her spine. Acting on reflex, her left arm flew up and smack Ichigo right on his nose.

"Ow!"

"That's for shoving snow down my clothes, you psycho!" Rukia yelped, frantically tugging on her jacket to get rid of the offending cold flakes.

"But was it enough reason to disfigure my nose?" Ichigo encountered, still rubbing the sore spot on his nose.

"That and other parts of your body that needs disfiguring, I'd be glad to be of service," Rukia said sarcastically, sweeping off the remainder of the snow off her shoulders.

"You made fun of my shin first!"

"But did you see me pouring snow down your back?"

"Hey, I just thought that both you and the snow are family, what's with the similar coldness and everything," Ichigo teased, only to earn another smack on his chest. He laughed. "Really Kuchiki, if I didn't know any better, all the physical abuses might look like you can't keep your hands off me."

"Yeah, cause my fist could not just be content with the _thoughts_ of damaging your body parts, it has to _act_ it out too," Rukia retorted. She let out another squeal of the night when Ichigo purposely grabbed a hold on her hand to turn her around, causing her to smack right into his chest.

"That's the second time you injure my forehead, you psycho! What's the big idea??" she ranted, rubbing her forehead for the umpteenth time. "You're _this_ close to getting an assault lawsuit," she muttered, shooting daggers Ichigo's way. She was about to turn and continue walking when…

"What the hell, Kurosaki? Do you really feel like getting romped so much??"

Ichigo forced a grin, his hold tight around Rukia's wrist. "Wait, I think I want to get that sweater," he randomly spoke, pointing to a pink men's sweater on display at one of the shops along the street.

Rukia snorted. "Metrosexual much?"

Ichigo rolled his eyes. "I meant to get the same design with a different color." He pulled on the poor girl's hand and began to walk to the said shop, while Rukia remained rooted to the ground.

"Uh, you know, I can walk on my own," Rukia reminded him, as she jutted her chin at his grasp on her wrist. Blushing, Ichigo dropped it like it was on fire.

"I know, I just thought maybe in that moment of childish antics, you forgot how to be mobile too," Ichigo said, running a hand in his orange hair. Right, now he's catching her disease too? Something must be wrong with the tap water at home, he mused.

Rukia frowned. She crossed her arms in front of her. "Kurosaki, are you ill? Or mentally challenged?"

Ichigo's eyes widened. His hand instantly dropped to his side. "What? Hell, no!" _Is she catching on?_ He thought frantically.

"If you didn't notice, the shop is dark. There's a 'closed' sign on the door," Rukia explained, exasperated, arms flailing. "The rest of the shops on this freaking street have closed for the night too, you idiot. Oh wait, you do know how to read the sign or do I have to walk you through that also?"

If he thought he was blushing before, he was on fire now. "Uh, I just wanted to, uh, check the price tag," he stammered.

Rukia sighed. "Okay, but just a quick look. We need to get home before Ririn does," she relented. She was oblivious to the sigh of relief coming from Ichigo. "You go. I'll stand here," she shooed him.

Ichigo panicked. "No! The whole idea of me tugging you is for you to follow me. I could use a second opinion," Ichigo rattled off quickly.

Rukia raised an eyebrow. "Dude, it's a plain knitted sweater. What sort of a second opinion you'll possibly need?" She turned around on her heels. "I'll wait at the bus stop-," she spoke, before freezing on her heels.

"Kuchiki!"

Ichigo dropped his hands to his side as he realized that it was too late to pull Rukia back within his arm vicinity. He watched as the girl stopped moving altogether, as her gaze fell upon a couple Ichigo had been preventing from her seeing earlier. He saw as the girl's mouth went slightly ajar before a hand flew up to cover it.

It took her less than a minute to go from completely devoid of emotion to having tears brimming in her eyes.

All because of the redhead, tangled in a liplock with an unknown brunette not too far away from where they were standing.

Ichigo thought he heard a choked sob before Rukia's very words hit his eardrums. "You can't win 'em all."

XXXXX

"I thought learning from experiences is supposed to make you grow."

Rukia tuned off the familiar voice ringing at her ear as she downed another glass of Amaretto sour. "I thought I told you to go home."

Ichigo perched himself on the stool next to her. "I have to be present when Kuchiki Rukia decides to make a fool out of herself."

"I'm not making a fool of myself. I just wanted to have a drink," Rukia said defiantly, all sarcasms seemed to have left her wits.

"You know, if you wanted to wallow yourself stupor, at least skip the ladies drinks and chug in the real stuff."

"I am not wallowing-, oh, shut up." Rukia rest her chin on her the counter-top. "Now that you've mentioned it, Kenza, give me Jack, on the rocks!" she hollered to the bartender standing at the end of the bar. The guy gave her a weird look, before nodding his head and dashed off to entertain another customer.

"You do realize JD is a man's drink, don't you."

"And you do realize you're talking to a bartender, don't you?"

Ichigo ran a hand in his hair. "Shit, Kuchiki. I was figuratively speaking regarding the stupor part."

"And I wasn't regarding the 'go home' part," she said, and relished once Kenza placed the whiskey in front of her. "You don't have to babysit, you know?" she continued and downed the drink in a single gulp.

Ichigo watched in horror as the girl ordered another drink. He regretted being nonchalant about her mind state after running into Renji shoving his tongue down another girl's esophagus earlier that night. He thought she would brace it. He thought she was going to charge the cheating bastard and beat the crap out of him, like she normally did if he so much as flicked a strand of her hair out of its place.

This whole new Rukia is strange to him, and as much as he would dance gleefully given any other occasion, the new vulnerable Rukia worries him a heck lot more.

Instinctively, he placed a hand on Rukia's arm as she raised the next glass to her pink lips. Surprised, she shot a look of indignant to him.

"Don't," he said softly.

Rukia's face considerably softened, as she shot him a pleading gaze.

After a mental debate, Ichigo relented. She needed to forget. He would give her that much. "That's your last one," he consented in a warning tone.

Her face brightened. And before Ichigo knew it, she already finished the glass and was ordering another one. Ichigo let out a low curse. "It's bad enough that you're stubborn as a mule on normal days," he groaned. "What happened to gobbling up ice cream and having a crying fest? Leave the drinking part to us guys," he scolded her lightly.

"Did you see any ice cream cartons around?" Rukia asked pointedly. Ichigo bit his lip. The girl had a point. All the ice cream parlors were closed and the only premise still open to business had to be a bar. "And crying?" she snorted. "I'd rather humiliate myself silly like that girl," she continued, pointing to a girl who was singing her heart out on stage. And her heart seemed to only consist of a very bad singing with equally very, very bad pitching.

For the first time since entering the bar, Ichigo had finally noticed the voice. He cringed. There goes his hearing for the night.

"Wait here."

Ichigo opened his mouth to protest a little too late as the petite girl jumped off her stool and made her way to the center of the club. His eyes widened in horror as he realized that she was striding towards the stage. "Uh, oh."

"Ladies and gents, we have our regular here in the house. In fact, she's one of the bartenders here in Atmosphere. She wanted to try her hand, or rather, her voice, at singing -," the stage manager paused to chuckle into the microphone. "You sure you're not going to regret this later in the morning, Rukia?" he inquired, giving the girl a chance to reconsider her sanity, when the girl slowly shook her head and beamed.

Shrugging his shoulders, the man offered a hand to the girl to help her onstage. After exchanging a few whispers, Ichigo could see the man raise an eyebrow before speaking into the mic. "The beautiful lady here would like to sing 'Everything Breaks'. I hope whatever's getting you this mellow is going to dissolve soon, hun," he said, looking over at Rukia. She gave him a small smile. "Folks, give it up for Kuchiki Rukia!"

The familiar guitar tune floated in the air. Ichigo watched as Rukia took the mic nervously from the man, who in return gave her a sideway hug. The small girl cast a nervous smile to the crowd, and when the cue came in for her to sing, she belted out to the soft melodies.

"_Under the shadows, forbidden and hot. Desire grows more often than not_," she sang softly, her eyes closed. "_I'm sorry's a stupid thing to say, it's not like I planned it this way._"

The tune elevated a notch. And it seemed like the raven-haired girl grew bolder as the chord strummed higher. "_But I'm sorry is all that there is left of me. I'm sorry this love left me hollow and made you empty…_"

Ichigo was awed; his eyes never leaving his petite housemate. So maybe Jewel had nothing to worry about an upcoming rival, but Rukia didn't actually go off-tune while hitting the notes either. Granted the girl was a little tipsy, but she managed well to keep her vocal grounded. Her alto voice complemented the song well, and he thought maybe getting her up onstage was not such a bad idea after all.

"_Maybe I could have loved you better. Maybe you should have loved me more. Maybe our hearts were just next in line. Maybe everything breaks sometimes_," she crooned, and let her voice hung for awhile as she waited for the cue. "_Everything breaks sometimes_…"

_ Song credit to Jewel, Everything Breaks._


	10. Chapter 10

_A/N: This one is wayyyy longer than expected; I sure hope I won't bore everyone out. You know the routine :D Enjoy!_

_Glossary:_

_**Aphasiac** – a person who is unable to decipher/understand speech or unable to form coherent sentences due to a lesion in the brain. _

Ichigo woke to the tickling sensation on his bare chest. He tried to flutter open his eyes, but groaned as the ray of sunshine cast a direct glow to his retina. Slowly, but surely, consciousness seeped through him and with a determined force, he opened his eyes.

_Sunshine is evil. All migrane-inducing subjects are evil_, he concluded.

Blinking back incoherent thoughts, he remembered last night's incident as it flashed in front of him. Him going flower hunting with Rukia, went sight-seeing with the same girl at the riverbank later, some teasing, lots of bickering, plenty of laughter, just goofing and having fun. Oh yes. There was one lone tear session. The image of Rukia's tear-brimmed eyes appeared.

The event that followed returned to him one by one. Him jogging after Rukia towards Atmosphere, vain attempts of hindering the girl from drinking into pure oblivion, the said girl climbed her way up the stage and put up that damn show. Oh, he was enthralled. Not only by her decent voice, but also due to the fact that the girl never once let the tears slid down her cheeks last night, despite finding her boyfriend of 2 years playing tonsil hockey with another girl.

He also remembered downing a few shots himself too, merely because he too, wanted to experience how heartbreaks felt like. How could such a strong personality such as Kuchiki Rukia succumb to manipulative and devious effect of alcohol? He had imagined her ranting, he had thoughts of her throwing things around, or perhaps shoulders sagging as she cried and lulled herself to sleep. But binging on Jack Daniels like some brokenhearted cowboys was the last thing on his mind.

And suddenly that blow-to-the-head effect intensified. Dammit! How much did he have to drink again? His eyes fluttered close as he tried to remember against hope the numbers of shot glasses lining the counter last night. Oh, there were plenty, plus Rukia's who did not slow down, even after that stint with the microphone. He remembered slamming his head down on the counter. He remembered Rukia's head on his lap. He remembered cradling her all the way home.

Right. Rukia. His lips curved into a smile at the thought of the raven-haired girl. He wondered how she was handling the sunshine, if his hangover was any indication. He might as well check on that kid while getting them both aspirin. He tried stretching, but found that all other three limbs were somehow… wedged?

His eyes flew open. And in the hazy disorientation, it was crystal to him that his left hand and both legs were wedged, none other by another set of limbs. As his eyes trailed the small body clad in a pair of blue shorts and a skimpy tank top. And when his gaze finally settled on the mass of black hair splayed on the pillow, Ichigo bit back a curse and a scream.

XXXXX

Rukia fluttered her eyes open, only to be met with stark darkness due to the fact she had slammed her face in the pillow. Her head hurts, it was like Orange Range was having a concert in there. She cursed inwardly. The last she had a hangover was during her high school after-party graduation, and she had vowed to herself never ever to get crazily drunk like that. Maybe she should have listened to that orange-top; grab a half-gallon Ben & Jerry's cookie dough and wallow herself in woe while crying over cheesy chick flicks on Hallmark channel.

Lifting her head off the pillow, she groaned. Even her neck hurts. She swallowed guiltily as Ririn came to mind. What kind of impression was she hoping the girl to grasp if she came home inebriated like last night? That thought gave away to another blow to her brain. She squeezed her eyes shut again as the morning sunlight teased its way into her eyes. She needed aspirin. Fast.

Then she heard her bed creaked. Come to think of it, she felt her right arm feeling slightly heavy too. Her eyes flew open. And then she shrieked. And fled her bed to across the room.

"Tell me I'm dreaming. Tell me I'm dreaming. God dammit, tell me I'm dreaming," she chanted breathlessly as she looked heavenward, and closed her eyes.

"You and me both," she heard the guy grunted. Her eyes flew open, while her arms frantically went up her front in a vain attempt to cover what's left of her modesty.

"What the hell are you doing in my bed?" she yelled, having finally found her voice.

"That's the thing I've been trying to figure out too," came his muffled reply as he buried his head into his hands.

Rukia's eyes widened. "Did… did…," she spluttered, her eyes came down to look at herself. Thankfully all the vital anatomy parts were covered, albeit inadequately.

Ichigo chuckled, resting his cheek on his palm. "You're such a dork. No, we did not have sex. I would have remembered if we did."

Blushing, Rukia shot a dark glare at her cocky housemate. "Answer my question, asshole! What were you doing in my bed??"

Ichigo stood up and let the comforter to fall into a puddle around his leg. Rukia turned around quickly, almost afraid of the sight that would be greeting her. Ichigo let out a low laugh. "Dork queen, I have my boxers on. You can look, you know."

Rukia grabbed the closest thing within her reach and hurled it across the room. Unfortunately for Ichigo, it happened to be a hard cover McMillan's thesaurus, and Rukia smirked in victory as he yelped in pain as the book made contact with his shoulder.

"Dammit, Kuchiki. Was that seriously necessary??"

"You have not answered my question, Kurosaki. What the hell were you doing in my bed?? Did you get lost while finding your room? I did not know you were capable of being _that_ stupid," she rattled, eyes blazing while her hands rested firmly on her hips.

Ichigo pulled on his hair. If he thought he was having a headache then, he's certainly developing brain cancer now.

"Rukia-nee, Ichi-nii? Oh, good! You both awake!"

"Ririn!" It registered to them that were sharing the same dictionary. Both glared at each other.

Ririn's eyes darted from her disheveled sister to her troubled housemate.

"Uh, it's not like what you think, Ririn," Rukia stammered. She was blushing furiously. She thought finding her housemate in her bed was bad, try having to justify it to her own sister.

To both of their surprise, Ririn smiled brightly. "I know, Nee-chan. I brought both of you aspirin. I remembered how you groaned and moped around the house so much that day after your graduation party. I thought you were going to smash that first-aid box or something," she joked, while placing two glasses of juice on the nightstand.

Rukia's forehead furrowed. "You knew he was here?" she inquired, thoroughly confused.

Ririn scratched her head, suddenly her bright smile turning into a shy one. "Uh, I kinda dumped him in here with you," she admitted.

"What??" Rukia screeched. Her own sister did _not_ just betray her.

Ririn cringed. "You came home draped around his shoulder. Right after Ichi-nii stepped into the house, both of you were out cold. I had to drag you to bed, but I can't drag him to his cause I haven't developed the muscles yet to carry a 150-pound guy up the stairs -," she babbled.

"And the couch didn't even cross your mind?" Rukia cut in, incredulous.

"Err, we were having a movie marathon so Yuzu and Karin thought it's best to dump him in your room. Plus, your bed is queen size. We were careful so that he won't trample you," Ririn explained so fast, she was putting the bullet train to shame.

"Yuzu? Karin?" Rukia repeated, panicking.

"Yuzu and Karin are here?" Ichigo echoed, finally making his way into the conversation. His expression too, was troubled.

Ririn nodded vigorously. "All three of us fell asleep on the couch. Who would have thought Brokeback Mountain to be so boring?"

"Brokeback Mountain??" Rukia boomed. "What were you doing watching an NC-17 movie??"

Ririn winced. Alright, she decided everything was TMI. Wait until she told her about renting Borat too. "Uh, okay. I need to start on breakfast," she stuttered, turning to leave her flaming sister.

Rukia softened. "Ririn! Come back in here!"

Ririn stuck her head into the room again. "Yup, Nee-chan?"

Rukia engulfed her sister in a quick hug and muzzled the girl's hair. Ririn grinned. "Thanks for the dragging me in part. And for the aspirin. But you're still getting it for renting Brokeback Mountain," Rukia said, smiling. "I'll join you in the kitchen later."

"Get drunk on me again like that, especially on the day of my big play, I'll strip BOTH of you naked," Ririn threatened playfully.

"Ririn!"

And the girl hurriedly scurried outside, all the way laughing.

When Ririn was finally gone, Rukia turned her attention to the aspirin bottle. She wrestled with it for awhile, willing for the cap to finally pop because she could sense her head exploding sometime soon. Suddenly a hand gently closed around hers and they worked together to open it.

Rukia turned on her heels. She saw the familiar smirk gracing his face again.

"You do know that cap is childproof, right?"

"Hn," she grunted. She dug two pills out and hand one to Ichigo.

Sitting side by side on her bed nestling their hangover, Ichigo stole a look at his housemate. "Nice Chappy tank top."

He almost regretted his speech as he felt her fist connected with his jaw. He grinned. Almost.

XXXXX

"Hangover Holdings. How may I help you?"

"Eh? Urm, I was hoping to reach the Kuchiki's," came a confused voice from the other end of the line.

Ichigo scratched his head. "Correction. Kuchiki's Hangover Holdings," he amended, and stifled a yawn.

The line went silent for awhile. "No way. Rukia's not hungover, is she?" the voice spoke again, albeit a little too excitedly.

"You bet she is," Ichigo responded, cringing at the sound of pots and pans banging. He wondered how Ririn was doing with a very cranky Nee-san in the kitchen.

"Then who's this talking on the phone??" the voice asked again, her tone accusing. "Are you one of the slimy bastards who take advantage of drunken girls at the bar??"

He pulled the phone away and stared at it blankly. After a moment, he cradled it again between his ear and shoulder. The commotion in the kitchen was subsiding, but then a round of laughter erupted contribution of his sisters and Ririn. He'd bet five bucks they had just made fun of their Nee-san. "Matsumoto, you're so cold. Is that how you greet a friend?"

Silence.

"Kurosaki?!"

"The one and only," he replied curtly, slowly banging his head on the wall. He could practically feel the aldehyde prancing around in his brain. Bastard.

Matsumoto let out a laugh. "You had me going there. I honestly thought you were some maniac looking for an easy lay." She chuckled. Then realization hit her. Rukia never gets drunk. She was the most responsible drinker Matsumoto had ever known. She frowned. Something was off.

"Matsumoto. I could get her if you want."

"No, wait. Why was she smashed again?" she inquired curiously. Ever since the unspoken truth between the two housemates, Matsumoto has learned to trust the young man. It seemed to her, her best friend was getting used and adjusting to the orange-haired guy. Spent quite some time with him too. So if anybody would know why her responsible, level-headed best friend got knocked out a night before Christmas eve, she was sure Ichigo is the one.

Ichigo meshed his lips together. Damn. He's not exactly breaching anything if he told last night's episode to Matsumoto, right? After all, the girls are best friends. "Ah," he started. "We kinda ran into Renji making out with another girl last night," he relayed slowly.

"What??!" Matsumoto screeched. Poor Ichigo pulled the phone away again. Eardrum violation two days in a row can be very unhealthy. "That ungrateful son of a bitch!" she fumed. "I knew she's too good for him!"

Ichigo scratched his head. He understood Matsumoto's reaction; she seemed like a very protective best friend after all. But what he didn't understand was how to react to Matsumoto's outburst. Should he suddenly pull the couch and curl up on it and start bitching too? "Uh…"

"How's she coping with it?" she asked impatiently.

Ichigo raised an eyebrow. "Exceptionally well, I suppose. She hasn't even cried once," he reported.

"And you called that 'well'?" Matsumoto questioned, incredulous. "She's building that damn _wall_, you idiot!"

He wrinkled his forehead. "What wall? Why would she be doing construction now?"

Ichigo could practically hear Matsumoto's eyeball muscles creaking as she rolled her eyes at him. "Not an authentic wall, stupid. A metaphorical wall. She's shutting herself in," the woman explained.

He nodded mutely. Now what? "Uh, so what do we need to do?"

"Knock down the wall," came the reply convincingly.

"Uh, and not with a sledge hammer, I reckon?" he tried his luck.

"Exactly. Listen, maybe I should take her for a girl talk. Make her cry a bit. At least she won't keep it bottled up inside," she suggested.

Ichigo deliberated. Suddenly he heard a familiar voice crinkling with laughter. He felt a smile tugging on his lips. That burst of happy giggle coming from the same girl who had her heart broken by her long-time boyfriend last night. _Maybe she'd pull through. At least for awhile._ "Listen, maybe we should give her time. Rukia's a tough girl. You're sweet, Matsumoto, but I don't think getting her waded up in tear flood on Christmas Eve is going to cure anything."

Silence. Then a soft grumble could be heard. "I think you've got a point," Matsumoto relented. "For a guy, you can be insightful, Kurosaki," the woman chuckled.

Ichigo let out a small laugh. "I take that as a compliment." He heard another bang in the kitchen, followed by another round of laughter. His smile widened. "I think I'd better play knight in shining armor and save damsel in distress before she blows up the whole kitchen."

After hanging up, Ichigo made an appearance in the kitchen. The sight that greeted him brought a smirk to his face. The usually preppy Rukia had her hair up high in a messy ponytail, with flour streaking her cheeks. "Wow. Is that a new look or something?" he joked.

A wooden ladle flew across the room and greeted him squarely on the chest. He winced while the rest of the girls laughed.

"Rukia-nee got the bowl and the drinet cabinet mixed up. The flour pack toppled down on her," Ririn offered, some of her giggles remained as Yuzu and the usually reserved Karin joined in.

Rukia grumbled. She cracked an egg into the bowl and beat it noisily. "You are so grounded, girls. All of you," she muttered, her another hand massaging her temple, trying to erase the pounding sensation.

Karin chuckled. "You can't ground us, nee-chan. We don't live here, remember?"

"Eh. I'd call your dad and let _him_ ground you," Rukia rattled off, glaring playfully at the younger girl. "Now, be useful and hand me the flour."

"You mean, the one that's not in your hair?" Karin feigned innocence.

"Kurosaki Karin!"

"Let me, Karin. God knows where else she's capable of spilling the flour again," Ichigo butted in, a ladle in hand. He swiftly took the bowl from Karin and walked towards a bitter Rukia. "Sorry girls. Your nee-chan is a walking catastrophe today," he said as he slung an arm around Rukia's shoulders.

Yuzu giggled. "You're not much better, Ichi-nii. I saw you ran into the cupboard on the way from the living room just now!"

Rukia smirked. She beamed up at the flushed man standing next to her. "What happened, Kurosaki? Your fat ass can't fit in my hallway anymore? Or my cupboard's too pretty you can't help but smother it?"

"Smart ass," came Ichigo's curt reply, as he proceeded on to tug on Rukia's ponytail. A mass of raven hair came tumbling down her shoulders. Remnants of flour snowed on her hair earlier trickled into the egg bowl.

"Eww, gross! Now we have to beat new eggs. For all that we know you have Columbian lice colony breeding in your hair," he cracked.

"What?!"

"Lice, Kuchiki," he recited, pronouncing the words slowly like she's an aphasiac third grader. "The six-legged parasite that sucks on human blood, which also happens to take up residence on very smelly hairy people," Ichigo elaborated helpfully.

"Very _smelly, hairy_ people?!" Rukia exploded. She dropped her fork with a clutter as her hands automatically found her hips. Then, the pounding sensation rushed back. _Breathe, Rukia. Breathe_. She refrained from banging her head on the counter. Instead, she brought her chin down and did what her alter ego told her: breathe.

Ichigo raised an eyebrow. He was pretty sure a royal smackdown was coming. Heck, he was _anticipating_ it. So when Rukia was all but pouncing the daylight out of him, he was astounded. "Hey, you okay?" he inquired, bending a little to peek at the shorter girl. Even their sisters were watching curiously from across the island.

Rukia gave off a smile. "Yeah, I'm fine," she replied, lifting her head up. "You know, I was thinking. It's amazing that you know the existence of such lice colony," she started, putting her best 'I'm pondering' look. "I believe it takes a lot of effort to be acquainted with such a mysterious species," she continued. She could see from the corner of her eyes Karin mouthing 'mysterious? Lice?' to Ririn, who only shrugged.

Wrinkling his forehead, Ichigo scratched the back of his head unsteadily. "Erm, you bet," he answered, contemplating whether to tell her the part where he actually _made up_ the colony. "These are pretty nasty species. I tell ya, it leaves your skin all red and tingly. No amount on anti-parasitic will eradicate them," he continued, more convinced of his own deception now. He nodded his head as emphasis.

Rukia raised an eyebrow. "Really? I mean, there must be a _special_ reason why you are so fascinated by them right? To spend so many _hours_ studying such a miniscule creature…" she let her voice dangled as she flashed what she hoped one of her prettiest smiles. She contained a smirk as the orange top shifted uncomfortably on his heels. "Cause really, could you be -," she paused, pointing a finger to the bare-chested guy. "That **_smelly,_** **_hairy_** **_person _**you were talking about?" she accentuated, this time with sarcasm dripping as she pulled on one chest hair.

The poor guy flinched and was quick to swat her hand away. "Those are attached, Kuchiki," he whined. "Doesn't mean being a normal guy with _a few_ chest hair doubles my risk of contracting lice, you dork!"

Smirking, Rukia's effective finger pointed to the chest region where she had it converted into her personal dart board earlier. "So I suppose this red and tingly skin is your debut attempt at applying blusher?"

The girls, who were playing spectators, snickered.

"That spot, is where you decided to attach a ladle into my ribcage, Kuchiki," Ichigo explained calmly as he reached out to grasp Rukia's offending hand. How did she manage to turn the entire lice thing around back to him again?

"Hey guys, look here."

Both adults lifted their heads as a beam of flashlights snapped into their visions.

"Awesome, Ririn! Let me see that," Karin enthused as she rushed to the girl's side. Yuzu clapped her hands wildly at the image of Rukia-nee and Ichi-nii on the display screen of the digicam, with the latter's hand clasped around the former's, complete with flour-streaked hair and cheeks.

"I'm seriously putting this one on the fridge," Ririn announced gleefully.

"Tetsuya Ririn!"

And Ririn scrambled away from the kitchen, with her digicam clutched tightly against her chest and a very, very angry sister down her back.

XXXXX

"You know, I couldn't believe I would ever say this, but the flowers are lovely, guys. Thank you, Ichi-nii, Rukia-nee," Karin said, bowing slightly with a beautiful bouquet clutched in her arm.

Rukia smile and nudged Ichigo a little. "Don't thank me. Your brother here literally handpicked all of them."

Ichigo blushed slightly and let out a chuckle as he shuffled his foot on the floor.

"So are we Bonnie & Clyde again? Or maybe Tidus & Yuna?" Karin asked, grinning.

"Nah," Ichigo replied. "We're your Spawn & Zera," he continued, wriggling his eyebrows.

"Ick. Nice choice," Karin said before gagging as Rukia let out a laugh.

"So where's Yuzu and Ririn?" Ichigo asked, his eyes skimming the vast auditorium. Parents and students were milling around greeting each other after such a successful Christmas play. After changing their clothes backstage and coming out to greet their guardians, both girls disappeared, leaving only Karin behind. "I see we're only good for carrying their bouquets, which we happened to _present_ to them," he continued, rolling his eyes.

Karin chuckled. "Don't be bitter, Ichi-nii. I think they were off with their boyfriends," she answered, shrugging nonchalantly. She saw Ichigo's vein popped. "A'ah, Ichi-nii. And that does _not_ call for beating the crap out of the poor guy," she continued disapprovingly.

Rukia grinned. "And how come you're still here?" she drilled, winking playfully at the younger girl.

Karin rolled her eyes. "I'd rather walk on glass."

Ichigo suddenly ahhem-ed, while Rukia gave out a long aah. She gestured to Karin's back. "Uh, maybe you would want to reconsider that," she suggested.

Frowning, Karin turned on her heels and immediately almost dropped her bouquet. A boy, slightly shorter than her onii-chan, with spiked black hair and solid facial feature greeted her. "Uh, Hisagi-kun," she stammered.

Hisagi gave a small smile and bowed politely at the two adults in front of him. "Karin-san."

Biting her lower lip, Karin turned to face her brother, who was raising an eyebrow, and a grinning Rukia. "Err, Ichi-nii, Rukia-nee, this is my classmate, Shuuhei Hisagi. Hisagi-kun, meet my brother and his friend, Kuchiki san," she said softly, somehow progressively losing her ability to speak.

Ichigo nodded curtly while Rukia beamed happily at the younger guy. "Hisagi-kun, nice to meet you," she replied. She elbowed Ichigo slightly to bring out a reaction. Surprisingly, Ichigo has been taking reflex lessons. He didn't even flinch.

"Kurosaki-san, I'd like to take Karin-chan to a late lunch, if permissible," he requested, bowing again. Karin was taken aback, colors draining from her cheeks.

Rukia nudged again, this time slightly harder to elicit a coherent response from Ichigo. Coughing a little, Ichigo snapped out of his surprise and nodded towards his sister. "If it's okay with Karin," he answered curtly. For the first time that night, his face was stoic.

"Karin?" Rukia prodded. Of course the outspoken girl would be rendered speechless when a hot guy asked her out, Rukia thought dryly.

"Karin-chan, would you like to go to lunch with me?" Hisagi asked again, this time his eyes were on the fidgety Karin.

Karin's eyes darted between her suddenly frigid brother and an extra-excited almost sister. She saw Rukia urging a silent 'yes'. "Uh, I would love to," she replied softly. She was positive she heard Rukia pumping her fist in the air.

Ichigo and Rukia departed from the school after shouting something about leaving broken glasses in the hallway to Karin. They fell into steps next to each other as they walked to the subway.

"I would so date Hisagi-kun if I were still in high school," Rukia remarked, smiling softly as the image of stuttering Karin came to her mind.

Ichigo snorted. "Didn't you see that guy? The hairdo and scar left a lot to be desired."

"Uh, have you looked into any mirror lately, Kurosaki? You don't look like you just stepped out of a church either," Rukia shot back, laughing.

"But you still stick around. There's as much wrong with you as it is with me then," Ichigo countered, smirking.

Rukia smiled softly. "Yes. That I do," she replied. "I don't judge the book by its cover."

Ichigo stole a look at her and smiled too. "Right. And the first time you floored me with that mean turning kick during karate was your way of saying 'let's be friends'?"

Rukia laughed.

"God, I'm glad we're still able to hear that," Ichigo spoke, relieved to hear the genuine laughter coming from her.

Rukia's laughter faltered. "Stop diagnosing me with amnesia, Kurosaki."

"I wasn't. I'm just truly impressed. And I respect you for that," he returned earnestly. "Don't be too hard on yourself, Kuchiki. He doesn't know what he's missing. It's his loss."

Silence.

They walked a good five minutes without talking to each other before Rukia lifted her head. "Kurosaki?"

"Hmm?" Ichigo replied, looking down at those indigo orbs.

"Thank you. For everything," she spoke softly, a small smile displayed on her lips.


	11. Chapter 11

_A/H: Another longggg chappie. This will mark the turn of event in Rukia and Ichigo's friendship (I wonder how many times I've said it already:D). Anyway, to you Renji's fans out there, please keep that knives away :D. I'm a Renji's fan myself, but the OOC-ness in the character is impartial to make the story work. Anyway, do your thang, and I love you guys!_

_Credits: The mighty Kubo Tite, my lovely beta reader, Brittany and my readers. You guys rock!_

A small hand slowly wrapped itself around his. Startled, he turned on his feet, albeit his reflex was working a bit rustily with his body temperature shooting off the roof.

"You do know that the cap is childproof right?" the voice was soft, but he couldn't miss the taunt or the smirk emanating from it.

"Sometimes I wonder about you, Kurosaki," she spoke, and Ichigo sensed a lecture coming. "You devote a large part of your life to curing people and preventing them from falling sick, but I sure as hell can't see you're doing the same for yourself."

Ichigo rolled his eyes.

Rukia simply let it pass while resisting the urge to smack the sick boy's head upside down. She dug out two pills and handed them to the patient, while reaching for a glass of water from the bedside table. Ichigo took them gratefully and knocked them back with a single gulp.

While nestling his head in his hands, he felt the bed dip as Rukia took a seat at the edge of it. He allowed himself to peek; the girl was balancing a tray on her lap, with a bowl of something brewing. He heard her saying as she offered the tray to him, "Think you can manage chicken porridge?"

After the tray exchanged hands, Ichigo continued to stare at the food, feeling a little bit lightheaded and undecided. Sure, he's hungry, and on normal occasion, he would totally wolf down the tempting-looking porridge.

"It's not going to be magically teleported into your stomach if that's what you're attempting to do."

With a low grunt, he reached for the spoon wrapped neatly in a napkin. Still feeling Rukia's eyes trained on him, he scooped up some of the semi-liquid substance and brought it straight to his lips. As the hot porridge burned his tongue, he winced, almost dropping the spoon with a clatter.

Sighing, Rukia scooted closer to the bedpost. Ichigo stared in surprise as the girl relocated the tray onto her lap. She spooned the porridge, blew on it for awhile before offering it to his lips, at which he merely stared.

"You have to open your mouth at some point," she spoke, raising an eyebrow.

More staring. This time it was a tie between the indigo eyes and the metallic spoon.

"What's the matter, Kurosaki? Feeling too old to be spoon-fed?"

Ichigo narrowed his eyes. Nevertheless, he opened his mouth.

They sat in silence as Rukia dutifully fed Ichigo. Only the sound of the heater rumbling softly in the background could be heard. Before they realized it, Rukia had reached the bottom of the bowl as the spoon scraped against the ceramic. "I've got some more in the pot -."

"It's okay," Ichigo croaked.

"You sure?"

Nodding his head, Ichigo offered a wan smile.

Satisfied, Rukia stood up from the bed and placed the tray on the bedside table. She reached for the comforter and tucked it snugly around the shivering fellow. "Get well soon, Kurosaki. It's no fun when you're sick. I'm down to only one verbal sparring partner and the house is getting too eerily quiet," she said, smiling softly. She then tilted her head to the side. "Come to think of it, that might not be so bad after all," she joked.

Ichigo's lips curled up into a smile. He watched as Rukia made her way to the door with the tray in her hand. "Kuchiki?"

Stopping in her track, Rukia turned slightly from the door. "Yeah?"

Ichigo opened his mouth, although his voice came out more like a whisper, he was sure the girl heard him as a smile started forming on her face. "You'll get your verbal sparring partner back, if you have that prawn udon you made last week for dinner tonight."

XXXXX

"Dammit. Did you see my keys?"

A bunch of keys were dangled in front of Ichigo's field of vision. "Here."

Ichigo grabbed them, grateful. He dropped them into his bag, turned on his heels and removed a glass from the cabinet. "Do we still have milk?" he inquired.

Rukia shook her head. "Nope. I'll pick up some on my way back later."

Ichigo shrugged. He settled for the cranberry juice. "It's okay. I'll do it. It's my turn with the grocery, right?" he asked, clumsily pouring the juice into the glass. Some splattered onto the counter and he let out a low curse.

Rukia let a small smile grazed her lips. Her housemate has been a walking chaos for the past week, ever since the beginning of the surgical cycle in his course. He barely made it home before 9 every night, missing their dinner routine with Ririn. The younger girl has been complaining that she is seeing less and less of her Ichi-nii.

"Don't take this the wrong way, but from the rate you've been speeding through this week, I'm almost afraid if you've forgotten what the grocery store looks like," Rukia said, smirking. She loaded the dirty plates into the dishwasher. "Did your temperature go down today?" she inquired.

Ichigo grinned. "Yup, doc."

"Thought so. That weird grin is back after all."

"I know this weird grin you've been missing for the last couple of days, right?"

Rukia rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "Whatever, sunshine." She picked up her sling bag from the stool near the counter and shrugged her jacket on before tightening the muffler around her neck. "I'm off."

"Shit. I have to go to that hospital in Mashiba today!" he realized, dropping his glass and its content into the sink. His eyes pleaded apologetically to Rukia. "Uh, about the grocery thing -."

Rukia waved her hand dismissively. "I'll do it," she spoke, grabbing two lunch bags from the counter. She smacked one to Ichigo's chest. "Lunch. You'll disappear with the rate you're skipping meals."

Ichigo held on to the plastic wrap obligingly. He smiled as he watched his housemate walk to the front door as he quickly grabbed his own muffler off the rack. Rukia tapped her foot as she waited for Ichigo.

Impatient, Rukia approached Ichigo who was still awkwardly tying up his muffler. He was never one to bother with winter accessory before; a simple jacket is merely enough. But after Rukia's constant nagging about his lack of attention to his own health in the nasty weather, also the fact that it was the petite lady who bought him the muffler for Christmas, he was slowly adapting to the new addition to his wardrobe. If only he knew how to tie them in the first place…

Wordlessly, Rukia tugged on the black wool muffler and expertly tossed one end over Ichigo's shoulder. She worked on knotting quietly, while Ichigo watched intently how her small hands worked. After giving it one final tug, Rukia stepped back to inspect her work. "Done," she announced.

Subconsciously, Ichigo bent down and planted a kiss on Rukia's forehead. He dusted the soft wool, admiring it. "Thanks, honey."

Shrugging, Rukia turned on her heels and they made their way to the front step. After locking the door, he turned to bid her farewell. "Take care."

"Have a nice day, sweetie," Rukia spoke, tip-toeing slightly to brush her lips on Ichigo's cheek. They were halfway to the gate when realization hit them. Slowly, they both turned on their heels to face each other, blushing furiously.

"Whoa," Ichigo breathed.

Rukia gasped. "That was odd."

Ichigo chuckled. "We were like some old married couple a bit in there."

Laughing, Rukia pushed the gate open. "We're a bunch of weirdos." She waited as Ichigo stepped out. "Let's go before we start arguing about the mortgage, _husband_."

XXXXX

"One Heineken, please. Make it a jar."

"Nice try," Rukia spoke dryly as she watched her housemate flop down on a stool behind the bar. He swung his book bag onto the next stool and dropped his head sideways onto the counter. "You look like shit," she commented.

"Thanks," Ichigo replied. "How 'bout letting me get wasted to go with the look?"

"In your dreams," she said, resting her elbows on the counter, peering down at her pitiful housemate. "You just got rid of the cold yesterday. Give it another week, superman."

"Shit, you're no fun, Kuchiki. You're the freaking bartender. Isn't it your responsibility to support and expand the business?" Ichigo whined as he knocked his head several times on the counter.

"Dude, beer is not the only beverage I have in the house. I could also support the business by sliding in Coke," she replied dryly. "Or if you're lucky it's the tap water. Take your pick."

"And _dude_, if I wanted Coke, I could have just grabbed a can at the vending machine," Ichigo retorted back, lifting his head slightly. But then the pathetic look replaced the frown back. "Please? I really need to get pickled. It's been a spectacularly shitty day and I don't even mind the hangover tomorrow. So please? Heineken? I'll give you an extra tip," he pleaded, grinning helpfully.

Rukia narrowed her eyes. Ichigo was in fact the definition of wretched that night. She shook her head and allowed a smile to cross her lips. "What happened to crown today as your National Whiny day?" she inquired, leaning closer.

Ichigo pouted. That was the cue for him to let go any argument about getting any alcoholic beverages whatsoever. And his friends thought he's lucky to have a bartender as a housemate. Guess again. "I don't know, Kuchiki. My brain's fried, my back hurts, I haven't slept for the last 36 hours, and my bartender of a housemate refused to perform her social obligation and ask me to stick with tap water instead. If it ain't crappy to you, I don't know what is."

Raising an eyebrow, Rukia looked pointedly at Ichigo. "Don't push it, Kurosaki. Permitting stupid, irresponsible college student get wasted is not one of my social obligations, contrary to popular belief," she replied. And then she smirked. "You rant like a girl. What happened to you?"

"I do not rant like a girl!"

Rukia grinned. "Maybe if you stop talking then I'd believe you?"

Ichigo sighed. He lifted his head and buried it in his hands instead. "Fine. Coke. Tap water. Whatever. Can't believe I'm getting dehydrated in a _bar_," he replied sarcastically.

Sliding a glass of Coke onto the counter, Rukia resumed her position opposite her housemate. Business was slow and she was curious as to why Kurosaki Ichigo was almost at wit's end. "Penny for your thoughts," she said.

Sighing, Ichigo took a long gulp from the glass. "I don't know. Today was just that majorly horrible day when everything sucked, you know?" he started.

Rukia nodded. "Yeah. We have that once in awhile."

"Right. And you've got the feeling that you've been pushed down a cliff, ran over by a freaking bigfoot, clubbed with a hammer and dumped alive into the grave, all in chronological order that tells you today is not just any regular day," he continued.

Her lips curved into a small smile. "Listen to you. Aren't we on estrogen overdrive today?"

Finally, Ichigo let out a small laugh. "Yeah, I guess. If I'm feeling this suicidal, I don't want to imagine how my menstruating classmates are coping after that damn session just now," he commented, taking another long drink.

Rukia smiled sympathetically. "Surgery's been giving you a hard time, huh?"

He nodded. "Damn straight. It's a weeder, that one. Slowly eating my brain cells away."

"Isn't that a crime. Not like you have enough in the first place."

"Kuchiki, I'm this close to giving you the back of my hand," he responded, threatening her playfully.

Laughing, Rukia grabbed a rag to hold as a shield should Ichigo decided to redecorate her hair with his Coke. "So, now that we've established that you have enough brain cells left to at least flush the toilet after you go, what the heck happened that made you this pathetic?"

The small smile converted into a pout again. "That spawn of Satan stared me down in front of all the other interns. Talk about a major slam dunk, man. I thought the floor was swallowing me up or something discriminatingly impossible like that."

"Spawn of Satan?" she inquired, raising an eyebrow. "That's a unique way to call your lecturer. So he stared you down. What did you do? Leave a scalpel in your patient's rectum?"

"First of all, it's not even remotely possible to leave a scalpel in your rectum since you can't even lodge your puny fist in there."

"But you can lodge in that other vital anatomy part, I'm sure," she muttered.

Ichigo burst out laughing. "Oh my God. Please tell me that's _not_ your attempt at actually sounding kinky. The wise and upright Kuchiki Rukia dipping her head into the world of kinky jargon! Why _isn't_ the sky falling already?"

Rukia smiled, glad that she could somehow elicit a laugh from the otherwise miserable Ichigo. "Well, did you leave your scalpel elsewhere then?"

"No. I just forgot the differences between cystic fibrosis and the usual bronchiectasis. I swear, Kuchiki, the look he gave me, I might as well hang my medical license in the closet," he whined.

"You're such a geek," she replied, grinning. "Come on, you're a doctor, not a walking encyclopedia. You're the whole reason they invented PDA, you know? Plus, you're in your fourth year, still plenty of time before you actually start killing somebody with your diagnosis."

Ichigo shot her a dirty look.

"What? I'm trying to say that it's okay that you got it wrong today. So you can have room for improvement later. You read?"

The frown softened. "Hnt. I read."

Satisfied, she lifted her forearms off the counter and sauntered to the cabinet. "Hang around while I close up. I need to go to the back for awhile." And she disappeared.

Meanwhile, Ichigo lounged on the stool, his hands wrapped around the glass. He was right about coming to Atmosphere. He was dead beat by the time he changed out of his scrubs at the hospital, and he wanted nothing more than to hit the sack and sleep til next week. However, he knew that Rukia was working that night, and Ririn had gone out for a date, with whom he had been meaning to interrogate but never had the chance to. Feeling the need to perk up, he made his way to the bar, totally out of route from his way back home. But then, he was glad he made the detour because he knew Rukia's pep talk was worth the extra subway tab and everything more.

The phone is his pocket vibrated. He pulled it out, and was alarmed when Ririn's number flashed onto the screen. "Ririn? You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Where are you?"

"I'm at home. Asou-kun just dropped me off."

"Did he try getting fresh or something?"

"What?? No!"

Ichigo let out a sigh of relief at the sound of Ririn exclaiming. "Then why did you call? Are you okay?"

"I told you I'm fine. I wonder if Rukia-nee coming back anytime soon? I tried calling her but nobody's picking up."

Ichigo pondered. The girl was knocking some common sense in him a few minutes back, must be why she did not realize Ririn's call. "I'm here in Atmosphere. She was talking to me just now. What's up?"

"Err… Renji was here before..."

"What! Did he try anything?"

"Hey, no worries. Asou-kun was here."

Ichigo was never more relieved to hear about Ririn in the company of another boy. "That's good."

"However, you know, being opinionated that I am, I decided to bring him into light about our current predicament."

"Are you talking through your nose again, Ririn? Cause those were some big words," Ichigo jested.

"Listen! I think I kinda let loose some facts…"

"About?"

"Err, how Rukia-nee caught him making out with another girl."

"You didn't," Ichigo spoke flatly.

"I kinda did," Ririn said timidly. "Anyway, he was pissed. He said about setting the record clear with her. I'm worried -."

Ichigo snapped his head to the back of the bar when he heard a bottle smash onto the ground. "Shit." He lifted himself off the stool and sprinted for the back door. "Listen, I'll call you back. I think the asshole is already here." He hung up.

Pushing the back door open, he strained his ears as he heard two voices arguing.

"Come on, Rukia. You are not being fair. You don't even give me the chance to explain myself."

"You are fully capable of explaining yourself without having hold on my wrist, Renji. Let go."

"Baby…"

"Do _not_ call me that. You lost all rights to any endearment since you shoved your tongue down that girl's throat. Let me go!"

Ichigo was about to let his presence known when Renji pulled Rukia closer and forcefully claimed her mouth with his. Shocked, Ichigo ran down the alley towards them as he watched Rukia scratch and scrape her way free of Renji's grip. She had enough of it, and finally she shot out a knee and kneed him in the abdomen. Hard.

Startled, Renji doubled over in pain. His grasp on the poor girl immediately loosened, so Rukia scrambled away out of arm length. She turned around only to smack into Ichigo's chest.

"Hey, you alright?" he asked, his eyes full with concern as he cupped his hands around her face.

She was overwhelmed with emotion: shock, fear, relief. She tried to swat Ichigo's hands away. She knew if she relented to his touch, she would crumble and finally start crying. "Yeah, yeah. I'm fine, dork. Let me go."

"My my. What a cliché soap opera. Here comes the hero. What now? Is this the part where you interfere and ruin the moment when the bad guy gets a taste of the heroine?" Renji spat, standing up straighter after the cramp subsided.

"No, this is the part when I come in and kick your ass," Ichigo replied, pulling Rukia aside. "What do you want, Renji? Not getting any lately so now you have to stoop to forcing girls to kiss you?"

Renji narrowed his eyes. He was still panting due to the damage done by Rukia's knee. "Piss off, Kurosaki. This doesn't concern you."

"Like hell it doesn't. You scratch my back so I scratch yours."

The red-haired man let out a menacing laugh. "You messed up, didn't you? You said you were just friends. Friends, my ass!" He turned to face Rukia, who was frowning with confusion. "Baby, how could you blame me while you cruise with him all along?"

Rukia's brows furrowed. "I don't _cruise_ with him, Renji. You're losing it. I'm willing to forget everything that just happened if you go. There's nothing really up for discussion here," she said, with a hint of finality.

Renji dropped his head. He knew Ichigo was staring at him with that indignant look written all over his face. He was not sure why he was so afraid of losing her. He knew the time would come eventually when Rukia would be enlightened to the fact that he always went behind her back with another girl. He knew she was never that naïve, and he knew every time he came back it was like her giving him a whole new chance. But like every time before, he always managed to screw up every single chance he got.

But he didn't expect the day that she would finally turn away to come so soon.

"Rukia…"

"For God's sake, Renji. Leave."

"You heard the lady, Abarai."

Renji fumed. "You, you stay out of this!" As Rukia turned on her heels to leave, Renji made a dash to grab her wrist. The girl retaliated, pulled her hand free and when she tried to regain her balance, she felt a sharp pain as Renji's palm made contact with her cheek.

"What the fuck are you doing, bastard?" she heard Ichigo yell, tearing the redhead away from the startled girl and pulling his fist back to slam it down on the other man's face. "Guys do not hit girls, you pussy!"

"Stop it, Ichigo!"

Ichigo froze. A single command and his fist floated in the air. And he was positive he was not making things up when he heard her calling his first name.

"Stop, Ichigo." This time, her voice was steadier, calmer. She walked forward to disentangle Ichigo's hand from Renji's jacket.

"Hit me with your best shot, loser," Renji taunted. "What, she tells you to eat shit and you ask from which hole? Why are you even taking orders from her?" he sneered, fully aware of Ichigo's firm grip on his jacket, which somehow had little effect on his senses right then.

"What's wrong with you, Abarai Renji? You were the one who slapped a girl who you freaking cheated on and you're calling him a loser? Listen to yourself!" Rukia burst, her eyes were blazing with fury.

"I didn't slap a girl. I slapped a ho."

Rukia saw Ichigo pulling his fist back, but she was faster with hers. As her fist slammed onto Renji's jaw, Ichigo stared back in shock, gaping. "Go to hell, Renji."

XXXXX

"Hey."

"Hmm."

Ichigo lowered himself slowly on Rukia's unmade bed. The streetlight shone through the window, casting a glow around her small frame. She was already changed for bed, but somehow, she never got herself under the covers but sat perched on the edge as she stared into nothingness.

"You alright?"

"I'm good."

"That was a mean right hook."

She cracked a small smile.

"I could have done it myself, you know. Let me see your hand."

Rukia was surprised when Ichigo pulled her hand from her lap to inspect for any damage due to its contact with Renji's jaw. She immediately pulled away. "My hand's okay. _I'm_ okay," she mumbled softly. "You know I could tell him off alone myself. You didn't have to trouble yourself like that."

Ichigo raised an eyebrow. "Do you really think keeping you away from that son of a bitch is troublesome?"

"Yeah," she replied. "You were always helping me out. You took me home when I was drunk. You understood when I didn't feel like talking after that Renji stuff. You helped me get through everything without making me feel bad about myself," she spoke. Then she lifted her gaze quietly to the man that was sitting next to her. "But for once, let me fight my fight. Last night, that was _my_ fight."

Ichigo opened his mouth to speak. But close it when he noticed she was not done talking.

"I'm not implying that you care enough about me to take over my fight," she continued hurriedly. Her gaze on Ichigo faltered, and her eyes rested on her palm. "I mean, I know you're that nice guy who lends a hand every time you sense trouble. But I could have told him off last night myself. I swear I could."

Ichigo watched her clasping her fingers together quietly. He exhaled. "Is that what you think I think about you? Somebody who is not important enough for me to protect?"

Rukia bit her upper lip.

"Listen, Kuchiki."

She nodded.

"No, look at me when I'm talking to you."

She turned to look at him obligingly.

"Kuchiki," he spoke, his tone an octave milder than previously. "No. _Rukia_. You are important enough for me to care. Important enough for me to protect." Rukia's hold on his gaze faltered again, and she found an interesting spot on the floor to scrutinize.

"Rukia," he repeated, more sternly this time. And as if to drive his conviction home, he got ahold of her chin and turned her face towards him slowly.

"You have become that essential part of my life, whether you like it or not. So I'm going to stick my hand into that Renji deal, or any other stuff in particular. I would not let you be forced into something that you do not want to be involved in, and I sure as hell would not let any other son of a bitch out there to call you anything other than what you deserve and I will never, ever let any of them manhandle you," he spoke, his eyes burning into hers. "Deal with it, Rukia. I'm not going anywhere."

Rukia blinked. Once. Then twice. She swore she had a dust particle suddenly lodged in her eyes. She felt the prickling pain and the blinking did not help in making it subside.

"This is the part where you're supposed to breathe, sweetie. You're turning a little blue."

Blushing, Rukia brushed off Ichigo's hold on her chin and tried to look at anything but Ichigo's tender amber eyes.

Chuckling, Ichigo held his arms open and nodded at her. "C'mere."

"What?" Rukia asked, brows furrowing.

"That cheesy speech I fed you just now calls for a hug," Ichigo explained. "Get in, woman. My arms are tired already," he complained, still holding his arms up.

Rukia wrinkled her forehead. "I don't need a hug."

Ichigo rolled his eyes. "Entertain me."

"No way!"

Aggravated, Ichigo leaned forward and took matters into his own hands as he enveloped Rukia in a bear hug. The girl tried to squirm her way out, but finally relented as she was well aware of his strength. He could feel a smirk forming as he felt her giving in, and rested his chin on the crown of her head.

"You know, I like you better when you are not kicking and scratching."

And the night was filled with Ichigo's yelp as Rukia sank her teeth into his chest.


	12. Chapter 12

_A/N: I am battling with a hacker who chose my email account as his next playground. I may not receive private messages sent for the last couple of weeks. And sorry to my beta reader, this one goes up without your expertise again. But do leave a line in the review page correcting any blunder, eh? With that, I leave you guys with the 12th chapter. Thank you for reading and enjoy!_

_P/S: Sorry for the long-overdue update, was caught up with another project: Fifteen Minutes of Reality. If you have the time, do check it out. :D_

_And Shiba Kaien is not going to be another bad ass. He is just portrayed that way. He'll be a vital character as we go deeper into the story. And to Orihime fans, I hope I won't offend anybody. Dodges a random flying shoe. Sorry in advance!_

"Yo, Kurosaki! We be clubbin' tonight. You game?"

Ichigo tipped his head up from the textbook he's been reading to give a simple shake of the head. "Nah, tonight's my turn with dinner, man."

Mizuiro clicked his tongue. "Dude, you're getting all domestic. That ain't right."

"_Dude_, it keeps me fed so I don't mind," Ichigo replied, rolling his eyes.

Mizuiro locked gaze with Izuru, who was chuckling as he drummed his fingers to the beat from his iPod. He jutted out his chin to Ichigo's general direction. "Listen to him, man. Last time I called he was folding laundry with Kuchiki. Both of them are that kind of people now, people who fold their laundry."

"Well, I don't know how it works for you folks, but here in our district we usually fold our clothes before we place them in the closet, you know."

Izuru burst out laughing. "Smartass."

Mizuiro folded his arms on the table and rested his chin on them. He watched diligently as his best friend turned another page of 'Gastectomy: Guide to the Idiots'. "So, Ichigo. You and Kuchiki look mighty comfy with each other. Anything you want to share with us your common folks?"

Shrugging, Ichigo's eyes droned one from one sentence to the other on the glossy white paper. "Nah, we're buddies. She's a really cool chick to jam with. Mulish, but still cool."

"Right on. Rangiku told me how she deflected a guy who's been clamoring on her while she was bartending last night. She beat that jerk up in billiard and made him promise not to step up to her again," Izuru butted in, pulling an earpiece off from one ear.

Ichigo's head snapped up. He didn't notice how his heart skipped a beat. "Eh? She didn't tell me anything about that?" he inquired, unaware of the frown etched on his forehead.

Mizuiro lifted his chin off his arms, slightly surprised at the sudden reaction. "What? Now you guys are being Dr. Phil on each other?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Izuru motioned to the frowning Ichigo with an impish grin. "No. Our boy here likes to play bodyguard to his hot housemate."

Mizuiro furrowed his brows. "I thought she owns like the twelfth degree black belt or something?"

Rolling his eyes, Izuru promptly swatted Mizuiro's head. The other man howled in pain before shooting death glares. "Third, man. It only goes up til ninth, idiot."

"Yeah, whatever. So why is Kurosaki all Kevin Costner to Kuchiki now?" Mizuiro spoke again, rubbing the sore spot where Izuru's hand had made contact with his head.

"Well, basically, that's what one does when he cares about his friends," Ichigo decided to pipe in, giving a 'duh' look at the guys.

Mizuiro grinned. He reached over the table to pat Ichigo squarely on the shoulder. "Yo, man. I don't see you escorting _me_ back home."

"Dude, have you looked in any mirrors lately? Nobody's insane enough to hustle let alone kidnap you," Ichigo answered, pushing away Mizuiro's hand in order to appear annoyed. Anything than feeling awkward.

"Man, have you got a _lottt_ to learn," Izuru spoke, shaking his head with a smile on his lips. _I give you a month tops, Kurosaki. Then we'll see where the lines of being friends are drawn in your book._

XXXXX

"You. What's your name?"

Ichigo turned on his heels to find a man with spiked black hair and a smirk on his lips. He adjusted his grip on his backpack and glared. "Who wants to know?"

"Shiba. Kaien Shiba. I heard you're Kuchiki's housemate," the other guy replied, leaning his frame on the wall as he watched Ichigo.

"Yeah. So?"

"So, we need to have a little chat."

A few minutes later both guys fought their way into a bustling coffee shop. After ordering two regulars, both found themselves facing each other over one of the islands. Ichigo sized up the guy smirking in front of him. Shiba Kaien. Who in this whole university doesn't know the infamous Aikido champion? Apart from his reputation in the dojo, Kaien is also famous with his conquest in the women's department. Although he knew exactly who Shiba Kaien is, he always liked it to see the other guy squirm when he pretended ignorance.

"So, what about this little chat? I don't think you pulled me in for coffee just to be friends," Ichigo started coolly. He gave his coffee a little stir before taking a small sip.

Kaien chuckled. "Where did that attitude come from? Of course I'd like us to be friends."

"Right, Shiba. Cut to the chase."

"Alright, Kurosaki. I heard Kuchiki broke up with Abarai. That right?"

After finishing his coffee, he crumpled the paper cup and tossed it into the nearest dustbin. "Why do you care?" he inquired, this time his amber eyes made contact with Kaien's blues.

"Now, now. What's with the hostility?"

"I don't know, Shiba. Maybe the fact that we're not exactly buddy buddy to begin with to be having this conversation."

"Well, well. Don't be carving wrinkle lines on your forehead now, Kurosaki. I'm just being… curious. And you don't have to be so domineering. Last time I checked she's not your property to be placing your stake on."

Ichigo swallowed a groan. "What do you want?" he shot.

"That's the spirit, my friend."

"If the next sentence coming out from your mouth fails to make a point, I'm leaving."

Kaien reached over to grab Ichigo by the shoulder as the other guy turned around to leave. "Put in a good word or two for me to Rukia. Think you can do that?"

Ichigo raised an eyebrow. "Now, why would I lie to my own housemate?" he replied stoically.

"You're cold, Kurosaki."

"It's not exactly summer in February, Shiba."

"So, you're not gonna give a hand to your buddy?"

"Sorry, dude. Maybe you try the next guy."

XXXXX

Ichigo placed his bookbag on the counter and opened the fridge in the hunt of something to quench his thirst. He looked over his shoulder at Rukia, who had her back to him as she stood by the sink. "Hey, you know what's funny?" he said, rummaging through the fridge. He found a carton of orange juice, pulled it out and turned on his heels.

"What?" Rukia replied as she turned away from the sink with a bouquet of pink roses in her hands.

Ichigo raised an eyebrow. "Did I miss an occasion?"

"No," the girl answered simply as she pulled on the stem and carefully arranged the roses in a high pink vase.

"Then, what's up with the flowers?"

"Oh, somebody left it by my locker during karate."

Ichigo felt his chest tightening oddly at her response. "Who is it from?" he asked curiously as he approached her at the island.

Rukia's head snapped up from admiring the bouquet. "Wait, let me get the card."

Ichigo stared at her incredulously. "Are you telling me you have gone and untie the bouquet and placed it in a jar _without_ having read the card?"

"I kinda forgot that part," she answered sheepishly as she fished around for the card in her bag.

Chuckling, Ichigo shook his head. "Sometimes I do wonder how your brain works."

Rukia rolled her eyes. "Shut up, Einstein. This is just not my stuff, okay? So leave me alone," she spoke as she pulled a pink envelope out from her bookbag.

"So, who actually wasted all this good money for you, shorty? Let's find out," he said as he came to stand next to her to peer at the card.

Raising an eyebrow, Rukia paused at the effort of ripping the envelope lid. "Wasted money? Why did you say buying flowers for me is a waste of money? I have been known to be pursued by men before, thank you very much," she retorted, giving an elbow jab on Ichigo's stomach.

Ichigo groaned. Sometimes he forgets the fact that despite being a cool housemate, Rukia is still a female, who tends to overanalyze the opposite sex's speech. "Kuchikiiii. Just open the damn card and read it!"

"I do believe it is addressed to me," she quipped, raising an eyebrow at Ichigo's obvious attempt to read the card over her shoulder.

He shrugged. "I just wanna make sure that you got it right. The last thing we need is for you to be snatching up somebody else's bouquet."

Rukia opened her mouth to retort. "Why…" But clamped it shut after reading the first line. "Oh my freaking pie."

Ichigo let out a small laugh. "Slick. Lover boy wrote you poetry."

Rukia cleared her throat, and started reciting the poem as Ichigo stood mutely next to her.

Beautiful dreamer, wake unto me,  
Starlight and dewdrops are waiting for thee;  
Sounds of the rude world heard in the day,  
Lull'd by the moonlight have all pass'd a way!

Beautiful dreamer, queen of my song,  
List while I woo thee with soft melody;  
Gone are the cares of life's busy throng, --  
_Beautiful dreamer, awake unto me!_

_Beautiful dreamer, out on the sea  
Mermaids are chaunting the wild lorelie;  
Over the streamlet vapors are borne,  
Waiting to fade at the bright coming morn._

_Beautiful dreamer, beam on my heart,  
E'en as the morn on the streamlet and sea;  
Then will all clouds of sorrow depart, --  
Beautiful dreamer, awake unto me!_

"Shiba Kaien?" Ichigo exclaimed once they got to the bottom corner of the card where the sender had signed his name. "That dope wrote you this? I didn't know he could _spell_ 'beguile'," he continued in a sarcastic tone.

Rukia rolled her eyes as she scanned the card one more time. "No, silly. It's Stephen Foster."

"Rukia, I'm not dyslexic. Nor blind. That's clearly his name written at the bottom," Ichigo said, gesturing at the name scribbled at the bottom.

"Mutthead, I meant the poem was written by a Stephen Foster," Rukia explained patiently as she folded the card back into its envelope. She eyed her housemate critically. "And I thought you took Literature as your minor."

Ichigo shrugged as he scratched the back of his head. "Must have missed the class then."

"Oh, well…" she sighed, keeping her gaze on the bouquet. Why Shiba Kaien would be sending her flowers is beyond her.

"Well, are you keeping the flowers?"

She plucked a pink petal and shrugged. "Well, they are not blue iris but they are certainly pretty."

Ichigo wrinkled his forehead. "But that asshole has a girlfriend, Rukia. And he's writing another girl a love sonnet. If it does not spell manipulative scoundrel I don't know what does."

"Chill, Ichigo. I'm just keeping his flowers, not jumping into sack with him. Plus, I thought he and Miyako broke up a couple of weeks ago," Rukia answered, carrying the vase with her as she walked to the living room with Ichigo hot on her trail.

"Exactly," he said, snapping his fingers as emphasis. "He should be in the rebound phase after that break up. You don't want to be his rebound girl."

Rukia raised an eyebrow after settling the vase down on the mantle. "Why the hell not? He's hot," she spoke casually.

Ichigo wrinkled his forehead. "I refuse to participate in a discussion about Shiba Kaien's physical attributes which may lead to questions regarding my sexuality as a perfectly straight guy," he started. Then he patted Rukia squarely on the shoulder. "But trust me you do not want to be involved with Shiba."

"He wrote me a freaking _poem_, Ichigo. Which part of that does not spell romantic to you?"

Rolling his eyes, he threw his hands in the air, exasperated. "See? _Exactly my point_. You girls go gaga over guys who copy poetries from old dusty books and take credit for them. They think they're smooth but I doubt those dead poets six feet under realized how much they've been plagiarized."

"But he called me beautiful dreamer, queen of his song!" Rukia feigned pouting, pointing at the general direction of the kitchen where the card was lying on the counter.

"Oh God…" he muttered, dropping his face into the palms of his hands.

Rukia chuckled softly. It was her turn to pat Ichigo but on his head. "Relax, boon. Don't hyperventilate or something."

Lifting his head from his hands, Ichigo heaved a sigh of relief. He smiled crookedly. "You had me going there."

Rukia gave a small laugh. "Yea well, it was fun, once in awhile, torturing you."

"Real cute," Ichigo muttered, rolling his eyes in annoyance.

"Thanks. I think Shiba Kaien has the same idea too," she replied cheekily, earning another glare from her housemate.

"About that leech…"

Rukia flopped down on the couch. "Come on, he can't get into my pants just by sending me flowers and cheesy poems. Besides, you're right. He just got out of a relationship, or whatever you call a two-week thingy with a sorority girl is, and I also happened to bail out from one too. Given he's not in the state of grieving, but I am, so the next guy I'm dating within this period of two months is probably gonna be a rebound. I thought I'd save the awkward trip of self-humiliation so I'm gonna be guy-free for the next couple of months or so."

"Atta girl," Ichigo responded, patting Rukia's head lightly. He slung an arm around the girl's shoulders and gave them a gentle squeeze.

Rukia looked up and smiled appreciatively. "Yea well, don't worry. I know you're doing that overprotective He-Man thing and I think it's somehow sweet if it's not annoying, but you really do not have to stress yourself over me."

Ichigo rolled his eyes. "Yea well, I know you tend to be too nice even to those who get on your nerves. For example, you compromised with the guy who was making a pass on you by challenging him to a billiard game? Other girls I know would just splash their Cosmo in his face."

"Well, I'm not other girls," she replied.

"Right on," he seconded, smiling.

"Besides, it'd be a waste of good liquor, and you know we bartenders always appreciate our drinks," Rukia continued good-naturedly.

"Well, next time Mr. Buttpat makes so much as an appearance at your bar, you're giving me a call, missy. You're lucky I'm gonna let slide the first incident which you '_forgot'_ to mention."

Rukia looked up and stared directly at her housemate's face. "When did I turn away and miss you morphing into this sweet guy? I think 'diabetes' is written in bold on your forehead," she spoke, tapping lightly on his forehead.

Ichigo smirked. "Well, babe, too bad you missed the great event but don't worry, there's plenty of my charm for everybody."

"Right, your narcissism is overwhelming," she responded, rolling her eyes.

"Your innocence makes fifth-graders cry."

"I'm going to kick you, you know?"

"That before or after you bake me that seafood lasagna?"

XXXXX

Ichigo pulled the oven lid swiftly. The aroma of medium-rare black pepper lamb chop wafted in the air. He took a sniff appreciatively before looking over his shoulder. "You go pour the wine. I'll take these babies in front."

"Aye-aye, sir," Rukia responded and gave a mock salute. She grabbed two long glasses from the cabinet and proceeded on to uncork a bottle of red wine.

Once they were settled on the couch with their TV dinner in front of them, Rukia switched on the TV and flipped through the channels. Both were sitting and eating in comfortable silence before Ichigo let out a small sigh. Rukia looked sideways to her housemate, and raised an inquisitive brow.

"I can't believe that the stooges are graduating high school soon. Last time I checked Yuzu was still using her Sanrio schoolbag and Karin was still on the 'boys suck' campaign," he spoke, cutting into his steak.

"And Ririn was still sucking on her thumb as she ran after the ice-cream man."

Ichigo looked up from his meal smiling. "And now they are writing their college application essay. I wonder when did they go and grow up so quickly."

Rukia gave a small laugh. "Listen to us. We sound like a bunch of parents over a PTA meeting."

"You think it's wise to let them have steady boyfriends now that the finals are so near?"

Groaning, Rukia pointed her knife towards her housemate. "Not this discussion again. Kurosaki. It's high school fling, not a lifetime commitment," she explained while rolling her eyes.

"But the girls have been going out an awful lot with the guys."

"Yeah, that's what people basically do when they're dating," she replied, giving him a 'duh' look.

"Hn," he grunted softly as he chewed slowly on the meat.

"Don't tell me you didn't have a girlfriend in high school."

"."

"Oh my, are you for _real_?"

"What? Is that a crime or something?" Ichigo replied defensively.

Chuckling, Rukia stared at him with a goofy grin on her face. "No, just straight out funny." She burst out laughing after awhile. "My God, I didn't know our dear Kurosaki Ichigo is still a virgin in dating and relationships," she spoke, earning a playful swat on the head from Ichigo.

"Just because I haven't been committed in a relationship before makes me any less of a man," he argued, feeling the heat creeping on his cheeks.

"Right," Rukia responded curtly, smiling.

"Are you mocking me, Kuchiki?"

"No!" came Rukia's quick reply. Then, her face broke into a grin. "A little. You have to admit it's funny. Just think of how the uni would react if the words of you being 'inexperience' in love got out."

"Then you'd come back home to find your clothes on the barbeque grill."

"Ouch, you're cruel," Rukia replied, shaking her head a little. She stared at her housemate for a moment. "Seriously, you've never considered dating before? Why not?"

Ichigo shrugged. "Well, I've dated. I've just never been in love."

Rukia furrowed her brows. "How the hell did you date without falling in love?"

"Well, you gotta test the water before you plunge in deep for scuba diving."

"Right. Your metaphorical talk somehow scares me."

Ichigo chuckled. "Seriously. I dated a few girls, just never ran across the one that's right for me, that's all."

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't you fall in love first before you consider dating?"

"Well, that could work but when you reverse the whole process, you'd get the insides of the person first before you start handing your feelings for her on a silver platter."

"That's why God created friendship, Kurosaki."

"But when you date you get to kiss that person goodnight, so I'm not complaining."

Rukia rolled her eyes and chuckled good-naturedly. "Just like a guy. I'll make sure not to let my kids mix with your kids."

Laughing, Ichigo picked on Rukia's vege which she had pushed to the side of the plate. The girl swatted his fork with her knife. "You're a hater, Kuchiki."

"Whatever," she replied. Chewing on the meat, she tucked in a leg under her. "Tell me about the girls that you dated."

Ichigo raised an eyebrow. "Are you going all 'Dear Abby' on me?"

"I'm bored. Not like we have anything interesting on TV."

"Oh well. I went out with a few girls during my last year of high school, but only one kinda stuck vividly in my mind," he started.

Rukia smiled, wriggling her eyebrows suggestively. "Must be one heck of a girl then. So did she somehow stagger your standing on falling in love?"

Shrugging, Ichigo took a sip of his wine. "Maybe, I'm not so sure. But I remember feeling I always needed to protect her. She was this fragile girl, you know? You can't help but feel protective of her."

"So does this girl have a name?"

"Her name's Orihime."

Rukia chuckled. "A princess, that's cliché," she responded.

Ichigo laughed, swatting Rukia's head and messing with her ponytail in the process. "I know. She looks like one too. She has this long strawberry blond hair, big eyes, straight nose…"

"I get the picture. Your typical Tsukino Usagi of Sailormoon complete with those sparkling eyes. Go on."

"She also has the biggest pair of boobs in the whole school…"

Rukia rolled her eyes. "Right. Tsukino Usagi and Pamela Anderson crossover. I _so_ understand where you're coming from with this girl."

"It's not what you think, moron. Well, I must say the size of her bosom _may_ contribute to my biased opinion on her, but she's generally a nice girl. I know she had a crush on me since first year of high school -."

"Pigheaded much, Ichigo?"

"Do you want me to continue with the story or not?"

Rukia waved a hand dismissively. "Go ahead, pretend I'm temporarily mute."

"Anyway, as I was saying, I had known for a while then that she had an ongoing thing for me, so I was not surprised when a few months before graduation, she asked me out."

"Wow, _score_," Rukia breathed in awe. "Although I must say her taste in men is dubious -," she was cut with Ichigo's hand making another round of swat on her head. "But I always admire girls who have the guts to go with their instinct and actually make the first move."

Ichigo smiled. "Yes, that was one of the reasons why I said yes."

"And the fact that she has a pair of D-size cups," Rukia stated dryly.

"_And_ the fact that she has a pair of D-size cups," Ichigo reconfirmed. "I was 17, pardon me if I was hormonally-driven," he continued defensively while Rukia shook her head in disgust.

"So how did the whole dating scene go? Did you find out whether you were in love?"

"She was a pleasant girl, very sweet and demure," Ichigo continued slowly.

"But?"

"But that's it. I could not find the spark. The chemistry. Or biology or physics or trigs or whatever. There was not much science between us," he explained.

"You were 17 and you were considering all of the above mentioned?"

"Yeah, what's wrong with that?"

Rukia chuckled. "Most 17-year-olds consider anatomy as the key points of choosing a girlfriend, but never chemistry. For a future doctor, that was one weird choice."

Ichigo laughed. He smiled softly at her remarks. "Not all guys go after leggy blonds with a pair of D-size racks, Kuchiki."

"Not all of them, _initially_. But after they get tired of Mount Fuji, of course they'd be dreaming of Everest, Kurosaki," she reminded him, gesturing at him with her fork.

"Everest may win as the world's highest, but Fuji still wins the cake in the most scenic category," Ichigo replied wisely.

Rukia laughed. "What a way to make a woman feel better about themselves."

"Listen to you. You have THE Shiba Kaien writing poetry to you."

Rolling her eyes, Rukia brought a hand to her chest in mock gratitude. "Right. Wow. I'm flattered to be the number 94th on his conquest list," she said sarcastically. Ichigo snorted with laughter while Rukia grinned good-naturedly. "It's okay, Kurosaki. I won't trap you into that awkward position where you're obliged to say nice things about me to comfort me."

Ichigo nodded approvingly. He gestured to her with his fork. "See, you're _that_. Not only are you the bomb, you also read well into the Y chromosome. That's why us guys dig having girls like you around."

Rukia let out a dramatic sigh. "Oh well, not as much as you guys dig having Pamela Anderson around to give you a lap dance, but I guess I take what comes."

"Eh, I'm eating dinner with you, so doesn't that count for something?" Ichigo said, tilting his head to the side.

Rukia rubbed her chin and pretended to be pondering for awhile. "You're right." Then she smirked. "And here I thought about letting you eulogize me for awhile. Not gonna happen, huh?"

Ichigo grinned. "Well, babe, a beautiful lady like you does not need praises to validate the obvious."

"Okay, let's just finish eating before I gag."

"Very wise advice. Let's." Then they broke into laughter.

_Poem entitled 'Beautiful Dreamers', credits to Stephen Foster._


	13. Chapter 13

_A/N: I know it's been over a month since I last updated this and Valentine's has been long since over. I have been building up FMOR and unintentionally ignored this story. Well, with that out, I hope this one won't be half bad. Read and do your thang, people :D_

_P/S: This is dedicated to my beta, Brittany. I hope you're doing fine, hun _

_Well of words (just for pun :P):  
__Dormcest - A romantic relationship with a person who lives in the same dormitory or student residence.  
__Nihonbashi – literally translated into 'Japanese bridge', it's one of the most famous bridges in Japan.  
__CO – abbreviation for Correctional Officer._

Ichigo stared at the lone red rose stuck on his locker door. A pink Note-it was attached to the stem. He glanced to his left, then right, but nobody entered his field of vision. After a few moments of deliberation, he swiped the Note-it from the stem and unfolded it.

_Hey hot stuff,_

_Be mine this Valentine's.  
__I'd even bake you some of the chocs if you want._

_XOXO  
__Miyako._

His face was blank. Why would Miyako stick a flower into his dojo locker? _Is this some kind of a joke?_ He looked over his shoulder to catch any glimpse of candid camera. There was none. He shivered a little.

"Whatever." He pulled off the flower and tossed it into his bookbag, together with the Note-it. After slamming the locker shut, he shouldered the bag and walked off.

XXXXX

"You can't just reject Miyako. She's the Kappan house president, man. Rejecting her is like defying the law or something," Mizuiro reasoned as he bit into his burger. "Come on. I can't believe you're complaining about being asked out by one of the hottest chicks on campus."

Ichigo rolled his eyes. "I ain't complaining. It's just, I don't wanna be her pimp of the moment, ya know? She's hot, alright, but I sense more trouble than ease when it comes to that chick," he explained patiently while digging into his cheeseburger.

"Nobody's asking you to commit here. No strings attached. Why don't you just sit back and enjoy the ride?" Mizuiro pressed again.

"I dunno," Ichigo shrugged. "It can get messy, man. I don't deal well when girls start to get messy."

Izuru, who had been quiet all along, let out a small chuckle. "Chill, man. A date ain't gonna kill you. You used to do this stuff all throughout freshman and sophomore year. Why not now?"

"Losing my touch, perhaps?" Ichigo wondered. He too, let out a chuckle. "Bottom line is, Miyako may be too much for me to handle. So I'd better not start."

Mizuiro chewed on his burger slowly, pondering on Ichigo's speech. "Since when is a girl too much for you to handle, dude?"

Ichigo shrugged. "Well, sometimes we have to step off the game. And I think it's time that I halt mine," he spoke, shoving a French fry into his mouth. "I'm not denying that I'm curious as how a date with Miyako would turn out, but that's it. _Curious,_ but not to the extent of conducting an experiment on the hypotheses."

"Are you saying that between the lines, that you're done with the whole 'Hi there on Friday night', 'Goodbye come Monday' routine?" Mizuiro delved, frowning. "Cause from what I'm hearing it's either you like guys, or you're applying to be a celibate, or you're sterile, or you are thinking about being serious with a particular chick."

Ichigo choked on his burger. Izuru started patting his shoulder helpfully. Both guys exchanged odd looks. "Is that beef from a mad cow?" Ichigo inquired, gesturing to Mizuiro's burger.

Izuru laughed. His eyes darted between Mizuiro and Ichigo's face. "So, A, B, C or D?" he questioned casually.

Ichigo frowned. "It's E. None of the above."

"Smooth, Kurosaki," Izuru replied, still chuckling. He exchanged knowing glances with Mizuiro. "I'm leaning on D. What do you think, Mizu?"

"50 bucks it's the dormcest," Mizuiro stated gleefully, he almost snorted on his Pepsi. "Oh man. This is so rad!"

"What the shit are you talking about?" Ichigo exclaimed.

"Ya mess with Kuchiki, don't you?" Izuru dug, grinning.

Ichigo's expression was priceless. "I don't mess with Rukia!" he retorted.

"Oh, so now she's Rukia?" Izuru responded, leaving Ichigo to bite his tongue. Izuru nodded his head towards Mizuiro. "Quick answer. High-notch voice. Defiant act," he ticked off the tell-tale signs one by one. "He's messing with her," he reconfirmed.

Ichigo rolled his eyes. He tried to smother the commotion in his heart. _It's the sauce that's too spicy,_ he tried to convince himself. "I don't. Jeez. A guy and a girl can be just friends, you know?"

"Yeah. But when it comes to the friendship with the opposite sex, there's always a fine line between platonic, and the big L. And I think you're nearly overstepping the border, my friend," Izuru remarked.

"You're not making any sense," Ichigo muttered, gulping down the rest of his Sprite. He could feel his cheeks flaming. Why should he feel defiant? He of all people is fully aware of his own feelings, and that is he only has platonic ones for his housemate. Why is he even worrying?

"Relax, man. No need to be all defensive," Izuru spoke, patting his friend's shoulder supportively. "Besides, I think it's cool if you and Kuchiki hit off. You guys are dope together," he added helpfully with a small smile on his lips.

Ichigo sighed. "I'm not, okay?" he responded curtly. "Rukia's cool. And I like having her around. You guys don't go ahead planting odd ideas into her head," he threatened.

"Why not? It's not as if she'd skip town if by some twisted chance both of you come to terms with your feelings," Izuru spoke, wrinkling his brows.

Ichigo dropped his head and sighed. Trying to reason with his friends could tire a guy out. "We don't have any terms to come to regarding our feelings, okay? I admit, she is more than a normal friend. Perhaps, she's the closest thing I have of a real tight female friend. _BUT_ we don't do romance. That's just not us."

"Listen to yourself, man. You're already referring to both of you as 'us'. You need a reality check, Kurosaki," Mizuiro reminded, pointing a fry to Ichigo. "Denial is not only the river in Egypt, you know?"

XXXXX

"Rukia-nee, I'd do the dishes for the whole month plus laundry if you let me off the hook this one time."

Rukia tapped her foot impatiently. Ririn, who was sitting cross-legged on her bed, clasped her hands together, begging. She had the complete ensemble of groveling handy; the super pout, the beguiling doe-like eyes, the child-like squeak and the innocent act meshed together.

"You know what happens on Valentine's Day, Ririn. I don't mind you going out with Asou-kun but your curfew is still midnight. No exception," Rukia replied firmly. She blew out a short breath, hoping that Ririn would drop the subject soon.

Ririn let out a strangled cry. "This one time, Rukia-nee! I'm not asking till the next morning, only an extra hour!"

"Why do you need an extra hour for if you're only going for dinner? You helping the restaurant's chef with the dessert or something?" Rukia countered, raising an eyebrow. She removed the glasses perched on her nose and twisted her sketching pencil into a heli-spin. Ririn was testing her patience.

Said girl fumbled for an answer.

"See? You can't even provide me a valid argument on the need to stay out til 1."

"Nee-chan, if you're worried about -."

Rukia sighed. "Ririn, of course I'm worried. It's a full-time job of mine. You're 17, and still under my legal care," she spoke. Ririn was about to open her mouth to intercept as the older girl held up a hand to silent her. "I know Asou-kun is a nice guy, in fact, you should know I do approve of him since I've not said anything about you dating him. But, you're both still 17, I can't stress that enough. You're both hormonally-driven," Rukia paused, and saw Ririn was going to protest. "And do not even suggest that I'm wrong. I've been 17 once, and I know how it's like."

"It's wonderful to be in love. I was too at your age. And when you're in love at that particular period of time, you're about willing to do _anything_ for your partner. While I'm okay with you dating Asou-kun, I won't be okay if you're involved in anything more than an emotional relationship with him," she continued on full-swing. She knew if she clicked on her lecturing mode, she'd never be able to stop.

Ririn fidgeted again. This time her cheeks were flaming, her eyes found an interesting spot on the carpet to stare at.

"Go out, have fun on Valentine's, but come home straight at midnight," Rukia conceded, leaning back on her seat.

"You'd be so much cooler if you take a chill pill, nee-chan," Ririn mumbled, pulling on a loose thread from her skirt. "It's just a date. Not like I'm going to conduct a reproductive experiment or anything."

"Exactly. If you even _think_ about it, I'm grounding you til next year," Rukia threatened. "I don't care about being cool. I care about not seeing you with a huge potbelly in the next nine months to come," she retorted.

Ririn blushed. "Okay, backtrack. I say we change the channel…"

"Listen to me," Rukia started. She grabbed Ririn by the shoulder so that the younger girl would turn to face her on the bed. "It's natural to feel… inquisitive. You're after all at the age to experience everything. But, giving up to sex should not be about trying to explore new territory. It should be about being at the height of your love with the other person."

"Nee-channnn, can we like, backtrack? Please?" Ririn pleaded, her face was putting capsicum to shame.

Rukia smirked. "You can't even talk comfortably around the topic but you're eager to experience it?"

"Okay. I am so going to jump from Nihonbashi right now," Ririn mumbled, rolling her eyes.

"Well then maybe that's the best solution, then I don't have to worry about you coming back from that date after one," Rukia smirked tauntingly as she pushed the younger girl's shoulder playfully.

"There you girls are. I thought I heard voices coming from down here."

Both of them raised their heads to the door, where Ichigo was standing with his hands on his hips. He had a grin on his lips as he sauntered into the room. "Wotcha girls up to?"

Rukia shrugged nonchalantly as she swung an arm around Ririn's shoulders. "Was just giving some tips to Ririn on Condoms and Plastics 101," she replied offhandedly.

Ririn and Ichigo choked. "What??" the man screeched, while the girl swatted her sister's arm away.

Rukia burst out laughing. "Oh God. Look at your face, man. And you're supposed to be a medic. Don't you guys talk about condoms like you talk about football?" she inquired, smiling innocently.

"No!" he spat, regretting stepping into a girl talk. "Were you guys really talking about that?" he asked, turning his attention to the blushing Ririn.

"Uhh…"

"Oh right. Maybe you could back me up on this one," Rukia cut in. Ichigo merely raised a brow. "Our dear Ririn here is begging for the allocation of an extra one-hour time out," she explained. "What say you, Judge Dredd?"

Ichigo's brows furrowed, while Ririn moaned and buried her face in her hands. "Don't you already get til midnight before your carriage turns back into pumpkin?" he questioned, peering down at the shoulder-sagging girl.

"Alright, fine! Fine!" Ririn exclaimed, throwing up her hands in defeat. She knew Rukia-nee makes a strict parent, but Ichi-nii puts a jail CO to shame, so she wasn't about to push her luck. "I'll come back by midnight. Happy?"

Ichigo grinned. He plopped down onto Rukia's soft bed next to Ririn. "You do that, young lady. We're gonna check up on you."

Ririn pouted. "No fair. I bet both of you are not gonna be back til dawn this Valentine's."

"Says who?" Rukia interjected. "My shift would be over by eleven. I'd be home even earlier than you would. So you'd better be in time, missy."

Ichigo raised an eyebrow. He elbowed his housemate softly. "Are we dateless this Valentine's?"

Rukia smiled. "And you'd be surprised why?"

Ririn rolled her eyes. "Yeah, right," she butted in. "And the flowers on the TV, next to the aquarium, by the sink, on the dinner table, by the stairs, _in the toilet_, just happened to be donated by the nursery," she continued sarcastically.

Ichigo laughed. "I couldn't have said it better than you did, Ririn."

The younger girl crooked a smile. "Just say 'yes' and put the poor guy out of his misery, nee-chan," she coaxed, patting her sister's hand knowingly. "He came around the other day with the tulips, and I gotta say, he's _hot_. I don't know what's stopping you."

"Exactly. He's hot. I don't want to fight other girls off of him," Rukia said, grinning.

"Lame, nee-chan. _Lame_," Ririn replied, shaking her head. She turned her attention to the guy lying next to her. "How about you, Ichi-nii? Don't tell me you're gonna be as lame and stay in too?"

Ichigo laughed. "Unfortunately, no. My friend kinda got me agreeing into this date," he explained.

"Ooooh," Rukia teased. "How come I haven't heard about this before?"

Shrugging, Ichigo pulled on a loose thread from Rukia's bedsheet. "Heh. Miyako asked me out."

"Wow," Rukia breathed. "The queen bee herself." She grinned. "Aren't we selling like hot cakes now on campus?"

Ichigo colored slightly. "Speak for yourself. At least I don't have a rose nursery in my living room."

Rukia sighed dramatically. "Oh well. Then it'll be only pathetic single me wallowing in self pity and red wine this Valentine's," she spoke, mocking a sob. She turned her gaze to Ririn. "Remember to come back early to keep your pitiful sister company, okay?"

XXXXX

"Hey, you leaving?"

Rukia whirled around from facing her wardrobe. She nodded slightly for Ririn's benefit. "Yup. You got enough money for tonight?" she inquired.

Ririn grinned. "Yup, no biggy." She sauntered into her sister's room and plopped down onto the bed. "Hey, you meeting Ichi-nii there?" she asked, referring to the Atmosphere.

"Probably. He told me he'd probably swing by," Rukia answered while flipping through her tops and blouses.

"Uh-huh," Ririn acknowledged, a slight smirk on her face. She watched as her sister's face contorted in full concentration to pick her work outfit. Craning her neck a little, she caught sight of the indigo babydoll halter top made of velvet. "Wear the velvet one."

"Huh?"

"The velvet one. The indigo one."

Rukia's brows furrowed. "Exactly why are you picking out my work outfit? I don't need to be so dressed up."

Ririn shrugged. "It's Valentine's. Plus, Ichi-nii loves seeing you in that color," she replied breezily.

Raising an eyebrow, Rukia looked skeptically at her sister. "Okayyyy. You lost me, child."

Beaming, Ririn shifted her weight so that her face was propped on one elbow. "No, nee-chan. In fact, it's the contrary."

Rukia frowned. "You're a funny kid, you know that?"

"So I've been told."

XXXXX

He skirted his eyes to the crowd on the dance floor. It was packed to the brim, even the occasional wallflowers standing by had to make way to more couples gliding in to dance. Valentine's Day is a good business to any premises, the Atmosphere included. Even the bar is buzzing with orders and just students making encores and bets. He had thought it must be pretty gruesome for Rukia behind the bar that night. But his favorite bartender was nowhere behind the bar.

In fact, he spotted her dancing the night away in the middle of the dance floor.

He felt his lips quirking into a lazy grin. She was a sight; a pair of low-rise jeans hugged her hips and her indigo top shimmered under the lights. Her short raven mane was pulled back in a ponytail, a few loose tendrils framed her delicate face. She was oblivious to his presence; entranced in a dance with two other girls, just having the time of her life.

"Is she playing hooky or something?" Ichigo leaned against the counter, peering at the bartender on-duty.

Ikkaku shrugged. "Nah. I stepped in. She covered for me a few days back. I thought I'd return the favor."

Ichigo smirked. "Lonely Valentine's, Madarame?"

Ikkaku grunted. "Order up, Kurosaki."

"JD. On the rocks." He threw another look to the dance floor. "I gotta say I've never seen her actually took over the dance floor."

Chuckling, Ikkaku scooped some ice cubes into the glass. "Your lucky day, then. Some boobs marched in earlier knocking on Matsumoto and Kotetsu. They dragged her in. You're just a couple of minutes too late."

"Damn." Ichigo shook his head. "So who won?"

"Who's still dancing?"

Ichigo grinned. He didn't know his petite housemate had some moves in her. He watched as she flexed her body like a cat stretching on a hot day. "Say, Madarame. Is that move even legal in this country?" he asked, nodding towards Rukia. "I sense El Nino in this room."

Ikkaku laughed. "Man, you're missing out. I thought you guys are housemates. Don't you guys tapdance together or something at home?"

Ichigo laughed. "Hold the liquor. I'll be right back."

Rukia felt somebody tapping on her shoulder. She swallowed a groan. That was the eighth time that night. She swung herself around, preparing to decline the invitation politely, but all words fled her mind as a pair of smiling amber eyes greeted her.

"Hey. You look so hot I thought I'd monsoon you down."

She laughed. "Hey, you're here early."

He grinned. He nodded to acknowledge Rangiku and Isane dancing nearby. He could also spot Izuru and Iba not too far away. "Can I cut in?" he shouted over the noise to Rangiku and Isane.

Both girls grinned and shrugged. "She's all yours," Rangiku called back, shooing them with her hands.

"Those are some moves, Kuchiki," he spoke, admiring at how her hips moved to the music.

Those violet eyes smirked. "Complaining?"

He shook his head, grinning. "Nope. But if you keep that up, those guys are gonna lose their eyeballs and jaws by the end of the night."

"And how do I respond to that compliment, oh pray tell?"

"Dance with me."

And with that, both of them fell into rhythm as Mary J. Blige took over the stereo. He twirled her around so that her back closed to his chest. One left hand settled on her hip, the other gripped her left hand, which was crossed in front of her. Her head fit snugly under his chin. They moved together synchronically, and he had never felt anything more erotic than her hips grinding under his touch.

It felt natural. It felt they belonged.

The song faded and Justin Timberlake's voice started blaring. Ichigo cringed.

She laughed. "Don't hate."

He smirked. "On other occasion, I'd rather you shoot me dead."

She twirled in his arms and hooked hers around his neck. "Speaking of which, what happened to Queen Bee?"

He shrugged. He brought her closer by encircling his arms around her waist. "She's around. I left her by the restroom. She wanted to powder her face or something like that."

Rukia's eyes widened. She hit him softly on the chest. "Oh my God, are you telling me I'm dancing with other people's date?"

Ichigo laughed. "You can't exactly expect me to leave you alone the way you were dancing just now," he defended, his eyes twinkling as he noticed the tint of blush creeping on her cheeks. "Chill, sweetie. She'd find me if she wants to."

Rukia bit her lip, and finally nodded. "Yeah, sure. But so that you know, I won't back down if she starts tearing my hair out," she said, grinning mischievously.

"Ooh, cat fight!" Ichigo replied, smirking. "By all means, be my guest. Which men wouldn't love it to see girls going down over them? That's a major ego booster."

Rolling her eyes, Rukia tightened her grip around Ichigo's neck in a mock strangle. "Right," she said simply, and smiled.

The smile was contagious. He felt his own lips curling upwards at the sight in front of him. He loved seeing her wearing indigo. The top she wore accentuated those purple eyes of hers. He inhaled deeper. Her scent filled his senses; lavender and jasmine, with a hint of vanilla. _Vanilla…_ "Hey, thank you for the chocolate. I love the vanilla filling," he spoke, pulling her nearer to his body. Lloyd and Lil' Wayne's cue could be heard in the background.

She shrugged. "My pleasure."

"So, was I the only sole beneficiary or there are others?"

"Possessive, aren't we?"

"Immensely."

She laughed quietly, burying her face in his chest. "Stop it, Kurosaki. Those sweet talks of yours are illegal. Save them for your groupies, alright?"

"I thought you are my biggest fan," he feigned disappointment.

She looked up and smiled into those deep set amber eyes. "I am."

"Then?"

"I think those fanletters and locker full of chocolates have really gotten into that head of yours," she concluded, shaking her head with a smile.

"But I love yours the best."

"Right. Let's see what Miyako thinks if she heard that," she replied, straining her neck to look beyond Ichigo's shoulder. "Queen bee is 10 feet away at 5 o'clock," she informed. "And I think she looks pissed."

He grinned. "Oh. Does she?"

"You're loving this, aren't you?"

"Come on, Kuchiki. Be my savior for one night."

She narrowed her eyes in slits. "I think she's waiting for you to go over there and ask her to dance, boon. She is your Valentine, after all."

"Nope. Ain't gonna go anywhere," he responded, shaking his head slightly.

Rukia pulled back a little, her eyes trained steadily on his. "Come on, Kurosaki. I don't mind. Honest."

"Are you getting rid of me?"

"No-."

"Then, dance," he said simply, pulling her back closer. "I'm comfy here," he added as an afterthought.

She could feel her cheeks warming slightly. Thank God for the dim lights. "Well, just so if you're having second thoughts, go ahead. I won't mind," she repeated.

He smirked. He removed a hand from her hips and placed a finger on her lips. "Listen," he instructed. The chorus was rolling. "_She's fine too… But I want you…_" he sang huskily, as he stared sincerely into her eyes.

She giggled softly. "Easy on the cheese, Kurosaki. I didn't know you R&B."

He finally laughed, throwing his head back a little. "Come here," he instructed.

She obliged, stepping a little closer as he wrapped her tightly in his arms, and he bent down slightly to brush a soft kiss on her forehead.

XXXXX

"Are they really not involved?"

Rangiku shrugged, staring dreamily at her best friend, who was dancing with her housemate a few feet away from their table. "What do you think?"

"I think those people are crawling. I'd have my fourth kid before they even consider dating," Mizuiro piped in helpfully. He gained a smack from the shy Nanao while Isane and Rangiku laughed.

"I think they're playing with fire," Izuru supplied. He rocked his glass of scotch for a bit before taking a sip.

The laughter died down. "What do you mean?" Isane demanded. "Those two look good together. They know each other inside out. I don't see where arson would fit into the picture," she argued.

"Exactly. Both are perfect for each other. But both are painfully blind to the fact," Izuru explained. "He doesn't want to mess cause he's afraid of losing what they already have. He even agreed to Miyako to avoid discussing Kuchiki altogether."

Rangiku rubbed her chin. "Funny, Kira. I think you're actually making sense instead of the usual bullshit," she spoke, while Izuru rolled his eyes. "She doesn't want to overanalyze cause she's comfortable where she already is," she added to the growing hypotheses. She chuckled. "I'd say both of them are royally screwed."

Isane sighed. "Man. Aren't they ever gonna fall in love that way?"

"They will," Nanao, who had been fairly quiet all evening, cut in. "We just have to give them a little push."

_Song lyrics credit to Lloyd and Lil' Wayne's You. _


	14. Chapter 14

_AN: …. And the Procrastinator Award of the Year goes tooooo --drumrolls-- Rukiahana!  
Sorry peeps, for the long overdue update. Life has been catching on, and what do I know, it's a brand new year already! And no, I'm not dead yet. Not the best I could come up with, and I apologize. That aside, Season's Greetings & Happy New Year everybody :) _

"Are you trying to stare the phone to death, Ichi-nii?"

Startled, Ichigo almost dropped his Sony Ericsson while whirling to face his sister. "Uh, no," he stammered, before letting out a nervous laugh. He then narrowed his eyes at the sight of two duffels each sister was shouldering. "What's with the bags?"

Karin looked at him, perplexed. "Oh, Rukia-nee didn't tell you?"

He frowned. "Tell me about what?"

"Ririn said that they are understaffed in the orphanage since all the workers including the principal, Rukia-nee's brother are supposed to attend an emergency meeting in order to keep the orphanage running," Yuzu explained, while adjusting the strap of the bag.

"Really?"

"Yep. Really. So Yuzu and I thought we would go down there to Osaka to offer some help. Ririn sounded that she could use some."

_Just like Rukia to keep mum about things,_ he thought, rolling his eyes at the thought of his raven-haired friend. "Hey, have you guys told dad about it? I thought the old man had been planning Disneyland since Christmas," he reminded.

Karin shrugged. "Yep, we told him. He said it's okay if it's for a good cause. Which reminds me, he kept on asking you to invite Rukia-nee along for dinner," she said, grinning.

Ichigo reached up to scratch the back of his head. "Uh, well. Soon. I promise."

Giggling, Yuzu rolled her eyes. "Yeah, sure."

He threw a dirty glare which was effective in silencing both girls. Nevertheless, a giggle or two could still be heard. "Wait. How are you getting there?"

"Train, I suppose."

He made a rapid decision. "Wait here." He grabbed the keys off the hook. "Dad, I'm taking the van!"

XXXXX

Rukia suppressed a yawn as she reached over to close the car door after unloading the groceries. She had not been sleeping well since the beginning of spring break. Not that she's complaining, she loves running and being in-charge of the orphanage. And it's been so long since she had been around the kids and she savored every single moment of it.

"Tadaima," she announced, removing her Mary Janes to change into her house slippers while trying to balance both grocery bags in her hands.

"Okaeri," a man's voice replied and she felt the burden in her arms lessen as the bags were removed from her.

She frowned and looked up, before being rendered speechless, her mouth a perfect 'O'.

"Miss me much, Rukia?"

She felt her heart warming at the sight of Ichigo's smirk. "What are you doing here you turd? I thought your house is about 200km that way," she greeted, pointing aimlessly to the general direction of Karakura.

Ichigo laughed as he proceeded to enter the kitchen. "What? No 'hi, how are you? I've been missing you, Ichigo'?" he called from over his shoulder. He placed the bags on the counter and turned to face his housemate of one year.

Rukia laughed. "Why should we resort to normal greetings when you know it's nothing but boring?" she replied. She crossed her arms over her chest. "Really, what are you doing here, Ichigo?"

"Nee-chan, you're back," Ririn said, entering the kitchen. Her smile grew when she saw surprise evident on Rukia's face. "And you've found your surprise."

Rukia rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "Oh, I was surprised alright. You're lucky I didn't have a heart attack," she replied, amused. A thunder of footsteps echoed in the hall and she gasped when two familiar faces appeared into the kitchen. "And you girls came too!"

Yuzu laughed, throwing her arms around the older girl. "We wouldn't miss it for the world, Nee-chan. Ririn called us saying that you guys are short of hand for the time being so we thought we could help."

Rukia's lips curved into a tender smile. Suddenly she wasn't as tired anymore. "Aww, come here, you girls. You sure are the sweetest," she murmured, as the twins engulfed her in a bear hug.

They broke the hug at the sound of Ichigo clearing his throat. The guy hung back, tapping his foot against the counter with an impatient look on his face. Out of a sudden, a cheeky grin broke out. "Hey, don't I get my hug too?"

Rukia was about to swing an oven mitt his way when a couple of kids skidded into the kitchen.

"Nee-chan, Ryou made my math homework dirty!"

"It wasn't me! Who asked you to put it next to the tea cup?"

"That was my study table you idiot. You purposely put your stupid cup there!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

Tired of looking back and forth between both children, Rukia snapped her fingers, calling for attention. "Hey, hey. Chill out before I put both of you in time-out," she warned. Like trained cadets, Ryou and Miyu immediately fell silent. Satisfied, Rukia crossed her arms in front of her chest. "So, who wants to go first?"

"Me!" "Me!"

Rukia rolled her eyes and sighed dramatically. She dug into her jeans pocket and withdrew a coin. "Ryou?"

"Why did you ask that idiot first, Nee-chan?" Miyu whined, stomping her feet in the process.

Rukia explained patiently. "Cause he's older. You know it always goes by seniority in this house."

Miyu pouted.

Ryou punched the air gleefully. "You heard that, _kid_?" he mocked. The adults, who were mere audiences for the last five minutes, snickered.

"Very mature, Ryou," Aya chastised. The younger boy stuck out his tongue.

"Hello, still waiting," Rukia interrupted, tapping her foot on the floor. The girls hid their grins, all were amused by how the petite woman was handling the situation. Ichigo on the other hand, snickered as he too, waited for the outcome of Rukia's impartiality.

Ryou cleared his throat. Wrinkling his forehead, he deliberated on his fate which was currently relying on the 100 yen coin. "Uh, tails," he blurted, before biting his lower lip.

Rukia flipped the coin into the air and caught it expertly between her palms. She grinned wickedly before revealing the result. "Pray hard," she taunted, before lifting her left hand to reveal a head.

Ryou groaned. Miyu shrieked.

Stifling a grin, Rukia schooled her expression to neutral and looked promptly at Miyu. "Okay, Miyu. Go."

The little girl took a quick breath, mentally preparing herself before launching into detailed account. "Like I told you, this moron here purposely placed his teacup on my math homework, which happened to be on my study table. How the heck am I going to pass it up to Soi Fong-sensei tomorrow now with that round cup-bottom print?" she finished, arms which had been flailing into multiple directions earlier returned to rest at her hips.

Rukia raised an eyebrow and darted her look at the anxious boy.

Shuffling on his feet, Ryou decided to try his luck. "Err, I was just helping her to show her creative streak?"

"That was a math homework you idiot! Not art class!"

"Miyu," Rukia disapproved gently. She turned her attention to the boy. "Ryou, now that we're on the homework subject, how come I haven't seen you getting around doing yours?"

Ryou visibly paled. "Uhh… Sixth grade is a piece of cake. We don't have homework."

"Right. What's the color of ferrous sulphate?"

"Err, pink?"

The adults laughed.

Her decision made, Rukia clapped her hands twice. She looked pointedly at the boy, who hung his head down in shame. "You're doing your homework with me starting from today. Reading time from 8 til 10 every Monday, Tuesday _and_ Thursday," she announced.

Ririn chuckled. "Ooooh, tough."

"But that's the time Hana Kimi on TV!" Ryou protested.

Rukia and the rest of the female population in the kitchen stared at the boy in disbelief. "Ryou, you watch chick flick?" Karin asked, incredulous.

"Karin nee-san!!"

Chuckling, Rukia bent down to level her gaze with Miyu. She placed a hand on the girl's shoulder. "And Ririn nee-chan will help you with your math homework, okay, Miyu?"

Grinning, Miyu nodded her head in eager excitement. "Okay!"

Straightening her back, Rukia's eyes roamed within the parameter. A laughing Ichigo, four amused teenaged girls, an obviously ashamed little boy and a justified little girl. She was done for the day. "Any objections?" she called.

"No…" both kids echoed.

"And hereby the court is adjourned."

XXXXX

"Haruto, no mixing your tea with the miso soup!"

"Aya-nee, what happens if I put mayonnaise on my meatballs?"

"Your meatballs will explode."

Rukia threw the teenage boy a dirty look. "Takumi, stop scaring the kids."

"Rukia-nee, why aren't you sitting at Bya-san's place?" first-grader Souta chirped while munching on his broccoli.

"Cause it's Bya-san's place," Rukia replied, while passing the rice bowls to everybody.

8-year-old Misae frowned. "But I thought you're the head of family now."

Rukia smiled. "No, I'm just taking care of you guys but the big boss is still Bya-san."

Satisfied with her answer, the kids nodded their heads and mulled about their current situation. A girl about five with pigtails shot out a hand. "Is he coming back soon?" Aki asked, her big brown eyes were glued to Rukia's violet ones.

"I miss his stories," Jun announced, dropping a fish cake into his miso soup.

"I miss his hair," Miyu contributed.

"I wanna piggy-back ride!" Aki wailed.

Rukia opened her mouth to answer before Aya chirped in. "He and Suri-san together with Hanatarou-sensei will come back soon, okay? They are taking care of some things to make sure you guys are safe here," the teenager explained, and Rukia realized that she had her support system so well in-tune.

"Are the mean people giving them trouble?" Haruto asked as he squirted more mayonnaise into his soup.

"No, it's just some adult stuff that we shouldn't intervene," Rukia replied, holding out a hand. "Now, give me the mayo."

"I know what 'intervene' means!"

"I know it more!"

"Souta, don't talk with your mouth full."

"Kids, behave. We are in the presence of guests here."

"Rukia-nee, is Ichi-nii your boyfriend?"

"Ichi-nii, do you give Rukia-nee kikoo?"

Ichigo choked on his tofu. He cast a glance at a blushing Rukia, bemused. The older kids stifled a laugh as the adults shifted uneasily on their seats. "Uhh…"

"I know it! He gave her kikoo!"

Trying to suppress his own awkwardness, he cleared his throat before beginning to clarify to the kids. "Rukia-nee and I are just friends. She is one of my best friends now," he reasoned, giving a smile to them.

"But you still want to give her kikoo, right?"

"Aki-chan!"

"Erm, sure. She's a very pretty lady, lots of men have been wanting to give her, erhm, _kikoo_."

Rukia rolled her eyes. "Not helping."

"Ichi-nii, we want to see you smooch up with Rukia-nee!"

"Smooch up!" "Smooch up!" "Smooch up!"

Raising a brow, she tapped her teacup with her chopstick, indicating an upcoming warning. "No desserts if you guys don't drop it."

The table fell silent. After a few moments, there was a whisper at the end of the table. "Dude, what's for dessert?"

"I smelled peach cobbler this evening." Another hushed whisper.

It was a silent agreement.

Rukia cleared her throat. "That's more like it."

XXXXX

"Need any help?"

Rukia whirled on her feet, her hands clutching the ceramic plate tightly. She smiled when her gaze settled on the loud-haired man. "Hey. It's okay. You've helped plenty already. Why don't you rest up in front," she suggested, resuming her chore drying the dishes.

Grabbing another rag off the hook, he proceeded to stand next to her by the sink. "Nah. I tried being helpful with the kids' homework. But now they're hogging the PlayStation, I think I should just join you up in the kitchen."

"It's okay, really. I just sent the girls up to catch up with their college application, anyway,"

"The kids are something."

"They are something, alright."

"I could see why you're so hooked up on them. Everybody is special in their own ways."

"Yeah."

"And you handle them all like a pro."

"I'm their Nee-chan, Ichigo."

"Yeah, you're that. You're the Super Nanny, like that one on TV? Except maybe with a few lesser pounds."

"Thankkksss."

"So, what's on tomorrow agenda?"

"Breakfast, carpool, report book day and maybe a day at the dentist. Jun complained he felt ants biting his gums."

He laughed.

"You don't have to do this, you know? I thought you guys had Hokkaido planned."

"Yea well, we could always hike another day."

"Don't say I didn't warn you, Kurosaki."

"I'll tell you what. I'll take carpool and maybe the dentist. How does that sound?"

"You're a Godsent."

"I know."

XXXXX

"Is it me or did Rukia drop off the planet?"

"She has her hands full at the orphanage. Her brother and the teachers there have to attend an emergency meeting with the board."

"Aaa…"

"So what's up with Hokkaido?"

"I'm not too sure myself. Mizuiro said Ichigo had bailed out."

"He did? Why?"

"Wouldn't you want to know."

"C'mon, Nemu."

"According to reliable sources, said orange-haired has been spotted driving to Osaka two days back."

"He was?"

"Uh-huh."

"Coolness. Maybe they don't need the extra nudge after all."

XXXXX

"Hey, what are you doing? You're supposed to eat your bento during lunch, not now!"

"Aya-nee, do you think the frog will die if I put it in Souta's shoe? I know it reeks enough to kill _me_."

"Yuzu-nee, Karin-nee, can you both hold my hands on each side?"

"People, no breaking your bento this time."

"Okay, Rukia-nee," came the practiced chorus.

"But can I smash it?"

"Breaking and smashing it is the same you moron."

"No, it's not. If you bother to open the thesaurus, you would know both have two different meanings -."

"Okay, okay. I mean, no breaking, smashing, vandalizing, anything indicating destruction of your bento. Now, remember I want everyone under 12 home at 3, no later. Takumi, I'll meet you at school for your report card day, okay?"

Takumi groaned.

"Now, herd along."

XXXXX

"Ichi-nii, do you like Rukia-nee?"

"Of course I like Rukia-nee. She's my good friend."

"No, I mean, do you like her, like you want to marry her?"

"Hey, they don't give kooky. They won't marry each other."

"How do you know?"

"Of course I know. I spied on them last night while they were having tea in the kitchen," Haruto announced proudly.

Ichigo visibly cringed. The kids spied on them?

"You're so stupid, Haru. They don't have to kiss to like each other."

Takumi snorted. He gave a sideway glance to the driver, who was having a hard time keeping a straight face. "I pity you."

Ichigo nodded, swallowing nervously. "Oh yeah. Been a long time since I felt nervous around a bunch of pre-scholars."

"So, what's the deal with you and our sister?"

"Eh?"

"Yeah, I mean, you don't exactly expect me to buy the 'good friend' part, do you?"

Ichigo smiled. Takumi might look like he couldn't give a damn about the world, but he was protective of his siblings, all right. "No hidden agenda, buddy. She's really a good friend," Ichigo insisted.

The younger kid snorted again. "You college guys should know girls and guys don't just stay 'good friends'."

Ichigo cleared his throat. Guess they wouldn't be dropping the subject anytime soon. They came to an intersection and he glanced at Takumi, asking for direction. The boy raised his left hand.

"But you're good for her."

Ichigo raised an eyebrow. "I don't know what that means, Takumi. But I take that as a compliment."

"Yeah, whatever. But just so that you know, you have eleven pair of legs ready to kick your ass if you break your heart."

Somehow, Ichigo felt that he would do anything, _anything_, to keep his word.


End file.
